Brunn:

I agree with you that greed and selfishness have become very bad. At the same time, as the world economies get worse, we will likely see greed on the part of people, institutions, and governments get worse. My own sense is that most of all governments are at the core of the problem. It was the governments through low interest rates and demands on the banking system to encourage loans to unqualified peoples who created the core problems. Once the banks were required to make loans to applicants of dubious credit quality as they were in the United States, the banks not being stupid did a very goood job of it.

The founding fathers of the United States had it right. The central problem is large government and its desire to control all aspects of the peoples lives. In order to control government size, costs and dominion over our lives, we need to decentralize government and keep the functions of government at the most local level. Such a priority would prevent the concentration of power in large cenntralized bureacricies whose prime motive is to gain dominion and power over peoples lives. Have you ever known a politician that did not want more power and control over peoples lives. Which of course grants them more personal power, importance and control over the people. The political class and the people do not have common interests. They have contradictory interests and the people must always be aware of this. Be always mistrusting of the political figure or group who says "leave your problems to me". What he or she really means is "grant me dominion over your life so I can have greater power and therefore control over your life"!

Brian