Greed Myth Essay

Before reading Money, Greed, and God, I believed many of the myths outlined in the book. A few examples would be the piety myth and the greed myth. The piety myth is “focusing on our own good intentions rather than on the unintended consequences of our actions” (43). I believed that if I did good things, or at least strived to be the best I could be in a fallen world, my negative actions would be somewhat negated. I also noticed that I have a tendency to not even notice those negative consequences as I am not focused on them nor are they in the forefront of my mind. This caused a few problems for me, morally, when I was reading in chapter two about how foreign aid is not as helpful as we believe it is. I am one who believes strongly in

This myth is “believing that the essence of capitalism is greed” (119). I struggled with the idea and moral foundation of capitalism up until reading this book because I felt that capitalism was everyone out to help themselves. My main concern was that if we are only seeking to gain profit for ourselves, we will not be as keen to helping those with less than ourselves because we believe the age old idea of “if you do not work, you do not eat.” I do believe in the idea that the government should have as little intervention as possible, only serving to help us keep the peace and our natural rights. However, after reading Money, Greed, and God, I understood more about why self-interest is not inherently bad, nor is

I do believe, that if done correctly and wisely, we can make trades that benefit both parties equally. But there many be smarter people working in trading that are able to outsmart others. That being said, I think that these people have a tendency to seek their own gain rather than an equally balanced trade. Personally, I believe that although it is possible to have an equal trade where both parties’ needs are met, I think that there are some instances where a party may outsmart the other and it result in an unfair trade of goods and