Greed - The Most Powerful Force In
The History Of Civilization

Greed is the source of all wars, crime, and the locks on your door. It is the "crystal meth" of emotions. Invasions, murders, genocide, slavery, and other evils have sprung from greed. From Eden to Enron, greed has brought suffering and pain. But greed has come into the mainstream. It's now considered normal. Criminals who do not have greed as a motive for their crimes are now routinely classified as insane. Here is my list of 20 things that are greedy. It's not a complete list (it would take a book), and of course there are there a few exceptions:
The RIAA: The Recording Industry Association of America has been whining about the losses caused by mp3 exchanges, and has sued old ladies and little kids to scare people away from file sharing. The cost of delivering music by internet is nearly zero, but these guys won't give up a single tightly-pinched dime. In selling music for the same price online as it is in stores ($1 per song), they incur no significant overhead expense at all. Even at just a dime a song, they could effectively eliminate all file sharing and control the media - and still make billions of dollars. Instead, they want ten times that amount per song. Greedy bastards.
ASCAP: ASCAP licenses most of the songs in the whole world. They charge annual fees to nightclubs based on seating capacity, not attendance. Here is what ASCAP did for Texas music: There used to be a bunch of big dancehalls all over our state. These are the places mom & pop went to on the 2nd Saturday of each month back in 'Nam. Because their seating capacity was large (though seldom if ever achieved), these places were charged astronomical fees by ASCAP. With the exception of a few tourist attractions, Texas dancehalls have gone extinct. This greedy extermination was brought to you in large part by the NYC-based  ASCAP, with a long tradition of screwing Texas musicians, venues, and listeners.
Concerts & promoters: Ticket prices are incredibly high, which has coincided with the Ticketmaster monopoly, another greedfest. It used to be that the hottest young bands had the biggest tours. Now, ticket prices are so high, only us wealthy middle-aged people can afford to go. That's why geriatric acts like Aerosmith and Jimmy Buffet are still on top of the touring industry after 25 years or more.
Clear Channel Communications: Greedy because they have bought up almost all of the radio stations, and now they all sound the same, from east to west. Used to be there was a regional flavor to radio. There were oddballs, heroes, and clowns. Now it's all controlled by one family. One of their employees reportedly said Clear Channel wants to take over ALL radio. That's too fucking greedy. Meanwhile, people who can't stand their homogenized and politically biased programming are turning in droves to computer and satellite radio.
Television: Everyone wants to be a millionaire, marry one, get humiliated by Donald Trump, win the Grand Prize, etc. There was even a show called "Greed" for awhile, produced by Dick Clark & hosted by Chuck Woolery, where contestants answered questions to climb the "Tower of Greed". Good shows are cancelled if they don't bring in the cash.
Pharmaceutical Companies: They want congress to stop people from filling prescriptions in Canada, where prices are much lower. Their claim that Canadian drugs aren't safe is ludicrous. This greedy grab targets people who are old, poor, and sick. Shameful.
Verizon: They have been indicted more often than the legendary Al Capone. They provide less for higher rates than their competitors. Customer service is rude and lousy. They continuously seek to increase charges. Pity us poor folks in "281", victims of voracious Verizon.
Worldcom: Theirs was a "reverse Robin Hood" scheme, robbing from the poor to give to the rich. Their bankruptcy ruined the retirement accounts of millions of average Americans.
Enron: Ken Lay, the mastermind of Enron is the same man who used to be the darling poster boy of the Christian networks. They would pray over him and lay hands on him, and he would talk about Jesus. Most of the money Enron lost was in pension funds of working people. Enron screwed the working poor. Ken Lay was the founder of "the 100 Club" - guys who each raised $250,000 to "put a man with Christian values in the White House". That greedy son of a bitch knows nothing about Christian values, and he owes all Christians an apology for posing as one of them.
Halliburton: Having received a non-competitive, open ended contract in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Cuba, Halliburton was then caught by the Defense Department overcharging for fuel. That's like if you gave someone a blank check, and they picked your pocket at the same time.
Multi Level Marketing: What is so evil about "network" marketing, is the way it becomes a "religion". They push you to proselytize family, church members, and the folks at work. This is a racket in which a few very greedy people at the top make money on the backs of the poor and needy. It is based on flawed math, and amounts to a scheme to defraud. It should be prosecuted as racketeering.
Insurance: The concept of insurance is a beautiful thing, but the people who control the industry are greedy. If for example there were no insurance companies, do you think the hospitals could charge $25,000 for a broken leg? Every time the cost of health care goes up, the price of insurance (and their profits) increase. Now that over one-fourth of us are uninsured, the rapacious greed of the insurance industry is becoming increasingly evident.
Lawyers: Lots of things we used to do, we can't do anymore as a result of lawsuits. Public lakes and pools are all gone. There are fewer playgrounds and events. Most small businesses have been replaced by national chains. Innocent people are in jail, and the guilty walk the streets. Laws are misapplied, injustices are done, and we're in a quagmire legally and politically. Lawyers must be greedy in order to survive, since there are far too many of them. Attorneys are social parasites who have attached themselves to our way of life.
Salespeople: High pressure or ass-kissing sales people are obviously greedy, why else would they be like that? Some salespeople are helpful and decent. These are the ones who never make the "President's Club". Most of the top salespeople are inherently greedy. That's why they read all those "self-aggrandizement" books, and attend greed seminars. Companies that encourage this are even worse.
Day Traders/Ebay Sellers/Spammers: Want to sit around on your ass all day playing with a computer, and make lots of money? There are several scams available for lazy, but greedy "mouse potatoes". Most of them involve or encourage lying and dishonesty.
Franchises: Franchises have created a country where you can no longer look around you and know where you are. The same TCBY, Subway, Hooters, Chilis, ad infinitum have infested every part of the nation. They all pay minimum wage, and create a financial vacuum effect.
Bad Tippers: Hospitality workers are supposed to be tipped, and are taxed for tips whether they receive them or not. People who do not tip them are effectively stealing from them. No matter how you do it, robbing the poor is greedy. Bad tippers are greedy thieves.
Yuppie Bikers: Most "Old school" bikers are non-greedy, or else they would have gotten haircuts and desk jobs long ago. They abstained from the rat race. But during the past several years, yuppies have come over to Harley Davidson just as they have to Starbucks and Old Navy. These are mainstream business guys, most of them used to looking for every chance to turn a dollar. They turn their poker runs and rallies into big money grabs. They've made the Sturgis Rally into a "family event". The strife and division of "Dawgs on Hawgs" and the split of TMRA into 2 groups were attributed to greed. The good news is, most of the posers will eventually move on to the next "fad", and there will be a lot of seldom-used Harleys for sale, cheap!
Gambling joints: Whether it's the state lotto, dog track, casino, or the video poker joint, all of them are greedy grabs. It is a scam designed to ensnare those of us who aren't good with math.
Superchurches: Churches with fast food franchises inside, who encourage a lifestyle of materialism that is strangely at odds with the Bible. Ever hear of "Thou shalt not covet"? Jesus wouldn't be caught dead in a place like that. Hey buddy, before God blesses your 401k Plan, do you mind if He works on a billion people who are starving first?
Self-help: The whole industry reeks of greedy grasping. They take advantage of people who are "fucked up in the head", which is morally outrageous. At any yard sale or thrift store, you will find paperback books and tapes discarded by the victims of this greedy industry. They prey upon people with low self-esteem and make promises they can not keep: Lose weight, get rich, be happy, be healthy, etc. They have created a maze of "false religion" like EST, Scientology, Positive Thinking, Feng Shui, and other unmitigated greedy-grabbing garbage.

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Greed has come out of the closet, and is no longer a character flaw. It's now a virtue to be "driven", "highly motivated", "goal activated", "achievement-oriented", and a bunch of other horse-shit euphemisms that simply mean greed. It's okay to go for the money these days. As Pink Floyd says, "take both hands and grab a stack".
In spite of the fact that humans are creatures of greed, all of our primary religions teach that greed is evil. It is one of the things that people reject in the abstract, but embrace when it comes to themselves. Here's an idea: If you'd like to help me out in the fight against greed, send me a hundred bucks! Thanks…   GATOR