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Stephann -> RE: Humans and Greed (12/29/2006 2:43:40 PM)
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1) Are humans inherently greedy?
Yep. It's a survival instinct, reinforced by the immediate and tangible rewards for greed - more food, better food, more comfort.
2) Are politicians corrupted by power or inherent greed or something else?
Yes, yes, and yes. Politicians don't come in cookie cutter molds, and the people they start out as aren't who they will end up when they retire. The same can be said for anyone who holds a regular job, but the inherent risks associated with power make politics a particularly corrupting type of occupation.
3) Who is to blame for the excesses of politicians - politicians or citizens or both?
Both and neither. Sorry to be ambiguous, but it's for the same reasoning as above - the individual motivations behind politicians (and voters) are so vast and varied, that the end result becomes a composite index. Newbie politician 2148 sees the other 20,000 politicians with their hand in the cookie jar, and reasons not only will his own corruption go unnoticed, refusing the status quo will actually ostracize him from the machinery. Voter 18,756,019 notices the other hundred million voters split 30-70, and figures his vote is worthless, so does nothing to attempt to shake up the system.
4) Are we currently living in a passing phase of greed and corruption and in 500 years time people will look back on us as too stupid to understand the harm caused by destruction and exploitation?
I was thinking about that just yesterday, I think I posted that somewhere. Yes, I think it's a phase. Just 500 years ago, 'global warming' would have meant a big glass bowl meant to heat a room. Five hundred years from now, if we haven't killed each other off, it's because we've learned to cooperate (or at least tolerate) each other. I don't imagine paradise or Utopia, but I do imagine.... (see five)
5) Is capitalism the end of political history? i.e. will it be replaced by an improved model in the future?
... that we will have standardized currency, work responsibilities, and established a system where everyone has a measure of personal, civic, and military responsibilities (if needed.) Beyond those basic responsibilities, we will be free to engage in whatever past times we wish and have the means to attempt. No rich, no poor, no hungry, no abandoned. Sounds like a Marxist ideal, but the expectation would be that we are permitted to do anything we want, as long as we fulfill the minimum responsibilities of what we must. In Australia, voters are required to show up and cast a ballot (even if they check 'none.') This has lead to a culture where every responsible citizen expects to vote, and expects his neighbor to vote. The same can be applied to everything - from mandatory employment (of some kind or another, for at least 2 hours a day) to civic responsibilities (keeping one's section of the sidewalk clear and in good repair) to adhering to environmental regulations (i.e. not burning toxic materials, to using approved forms of transportation, etc etc.)
The framework and legal precedence for all of these elements is already in place, from the universal acceptance of the US dollar as a currency, to bans on certain types of automobiles, to proof of an attempt to find employment for unemployment claims. As the West becomes more litigious, society will be looking more and more to democratically elected governments to accept a greater burden in all walks of our lives. The laws are beginning to specify what behavior is permitted, rather than what behavior is prohibited. It's just a matter of time before the rest follows.
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