7 Deadly American Sins: Greed in America
A seemingly ancient argument made by the religious right is that “America is a Christian nation.” That’s why all sorts of theocratic nonsense is justified. Let’s see just how Christian this country is.
1. Greed
Perhaps the easiest and most straightforward measure of the un-Christian character of the US is the economic system that affects everyone’s life, is essential to its prosperity, and remains fundamental to the country’s self-identity (especially given the Cold War). Capitalism depends on many factors, but one of the most important is greed or self-interest. Merriam-Webster defines capitalism as “an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.”
A company doesn’t survive unless it makes profit. The same is roughly true of individuals in a free market setting. Self-interest, then, becomes a matter of survival for economic actors, other things equal. Government in the US does various things to level the playing field and help those who can’t help themselves, but the underlying framework of the system remains dependent on greed. One does not need to discuss arch-capitalist and atheist Ayn Rand in order to appreciate this.
Some would argue that Americans give plenty of money to charity. The response would be simply: where did that money come from? From a greedy process, of course. By definition, anyone who donates to charity today donated less than their total wealth yesterday. And donation is only possible if there is wealth to donate, which requires a wealth-generating system, of which America’s is capitalism. The recent financial meltdown was caused in large part by unmitigated greed to the point of delusion on the part of some of the smartest players in the economy.
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Actually, the Italians are prouder of their country than the Americans according to the Pew Research Crew. I would say the Americans are more self-centred due to their limited world view.
otherwise, yet another excellent post.
Thanks, although I wouldn’t say a limited worldview is limited to the Americans; that’s pretty much a human universal!
Any extra self-centeredness on the part of Americans is more likely an outcome of specific social and cultural dynamics (independent, frontier spirit, etc)
[...] concept, and the relatively high placement of the US should come as no surprise, given my recent analysis of the issue. Of course, one must remember the anti-American stance of much of the BBC, but [...]
im not sure if the person that wrote this is american or from somewhere else, but he or she is definitely anti american. ive been to other countries and i see lots of pride in france, fat people drinking calorie beer in germany, hooligans in england, poor countries envy wealthier countries and not to mention they are lazy or they would be in the same position as the wealthier countries are.
so basically theres no country better than america is. we are all in the same boat. this thing about prisons is a weak remark. american law enforcement just keep better control over aggression than other countries do. i seen a gang fight in europe and the police came 20 minutes later when it was over. then we got the facts about dictators and queens and emperors and kings that have enough vanity and the rest of the sins to match the world with. america doesnt have any rich kings with gold and jewels and fancy stuff like in their times when everybody was dirt poor and they were godly rich. you got khan napoleon hitler hirhito henry caesar mussolini erik atilla alexander pharoah stalin lenin hussein first emperor of china castro santa anna cortes nicolae tojo daladier, that was just some for history, and not to mention that there is alot of crime in africa that doesnt even get recorded because not enough people in the world show interest in their faults, only that they need food is interesting. and the world leaders now arent really much better (modern time).
so please be a little bit nicer to american people. we are not perfect, just like everybody else with the same problems.
one other small part. americans are a mix from all the other countries. so does that mean we are getting all the crap from the other countries? thx to the rest of the world.
so when an american is doing something sinful, the rest of the world can blame themselves. you all get what you make.
so if a king somewhere in a country a long time ago was mean to his people and some of the people left and tried to fine new land because they had so much wrath against their unfair or brutal king, then that means that king did it himself, he made his bed abd the bed for people in the future.
Irrelevant:
I wrote this article and yes, I am an American, born and raised. I too have travelled to many other countries. I am most certainly NOT anti-American, which you would see if you read the first sentence of the conclusion: “None of this is to argue necessarily that any of these things are bad.”
This article does not argue that America is bad, but rather that it is not Christian. For example, I think lust and greed are actually very positive forces if used responsibly. But they are decidedly contrary to Christianity. Therefore America is not Christian in those areas. Doesn’t mean America or Americans are bad.
Yes, of course there are crimes, obesity, etc in other countries. But the statistics don’t lie. There is more crime in the US and more obesity than in other rich countries. It’s a simple fact.
It makes little sense to compare America to poor, backward dictatorial societies because they are in two completely different categories. America is a rich, developed democratic society, so it must be compared against other rich, developed democratic societies.
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[...] have seen that the US has significant amounts of Greed, Envy, Pride, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony and Sloth. This is not to argue that any of these things [...]