In: Economics
Is greed the same as self-interest?
**Must be at least 4-5 sentences
Greed is not a virtue, it is an unhealthy desire for more money or products. Conversely, prudence (reasonable self-interested conduct) is a virtue. Greed can even be self-defeating: an excessive desire for more money and goods makes it impossible for a person to receive more.
Self-interest simply means that a person acts according to his or her own values, no matter what those may be. He seeks the basics of human survival, food, clothing , and shelter, perhaps luxuries, personal relationships such as love and friendship, knowledge , truth, or even acting on compassion and kindness, as long as it is genuine, and in fact, his own feelings.
In particular, the image of the "pig at a trough" is used to ridicule capitalism, presenting it as a zero sum game, rather than what it actually is. The best businessmen build more money to go about in free market capitalism. In addition, they consume a much smaller proportion of what they produce than anyone else, and they increase the production of consumer products for use by all. And they are doing this out of self-interest.