March 28, 2024, 07:04:05 PM *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: NEW CHILD BOARD CREATED IN THE POLITICAL SECTION FOR THE 2016 ELECTION
 
   Home   Help Login Register  
Pages: 1   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Spirituality - An Economy of Greed  (Read 2255 times)
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
WhiskeyGirl
Monkey All Star Jr.
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 7754



« on: September 23, 2008, 04:12:57 PM »

Quote
9/23/2008 2:13:49 PM
 by Bennett Gordon

Greed has emerged as a unifying culprit in the current financial crisis in the United States. John McCain blames the situation on “unbridled corruption and greed.” Barack Obama’s campaign has presented a plan to reform the “greed and excesses of Washington.” Not far beneath this rhetoric is the implication that both presidential candidates are ostensibly rejecting the Gordon Gekko, Wall Street mantra of “greed is good” for a more moral and less sinful worldview.

Although it is a sin, greed does have its benefits, according to Dr. Rebecca Blank, interviewed on Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. “It's greed that makes people work harder, be more productive, and helps the economy grow,” Blank says. Greed also may not have been behind every decision that led to the crisis. Blank points out that there were “a lot of people at the very beginning of this, the whole sub-prime crisis that started this off, who saw themselves as providing more funds for low-income families. They were doing a good thing.”

(snip - this was good too)

...Some people believe that the free market will work itself out on its own, but Jim Wallis writes on the God’s Politics blog, “left to its own devices and human weakness (let’s call it sin), the market too often disintegrates into greed and corruption, as the Wall Street financial collapse painfully reveals.” The government, according to Wallis, must figure out a way to encourage innovation, but reign in the greed.

It’s up to the American people to push elected officials in that direction, toward good regulation and away from unbridled greed. Too often, according to Lerner, politicians keep the “discussion in vague and technocratic terms that avoid the central ethical issues that are always at the heart of the economy.” Lerner writes that politicians, including Obama, need to directly address the moral and ethical issues facing the country, not just the economic ones.

http://www.utne.com/2008-09-23/Spirituality/An-Economy-of-Greed.aspx?blogid=28

I haven't seen much about the moral and ethical issues facing the country. 

In the back of my mind (my experience), I'm thinking the current problem with loan defaults is because people can't pay loans due to escalating monthly payments, they have lost their job, or perhaps they bought a house based on what someone told them they could afford (or were eligible for), and not what would work in their budget.

What happens when the next get rich quick scheme comes along?   

Who will take an honest look at the moral and ethical challenges?  Who will be willing to tackle reform when it is needed?
Logged

All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
WhiskeyGirl
Monkey All Star Jr.
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 7754



« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2008, 05:33:32 PM »

An opportunity for students loans, mortgages, and others -

Barack Obama has mentioned payoff schemes for student loans.  Why not make that option available to others?

Perhaps some unemployed students and home owners with mortgages in jeopardy, might benefit from a debt forgiveness/credit program?

I imagine some have more time than money.  Why not offer a volunteer, community, or public works opportunity?  Give these individuals and others willing to work in their stead, the opportunity to trade work for loan payment credit?

If someone is in danger of defaulting on their loan, it uses resources. Couldn't those resources be used to enable a program like this?

I think there are a lot of communities with more public works projects than money/funds/resources.  Why not offer an opportunity?

A public work internship to reduce loans before the student graduates?  IIRC, there was a program in the past that offered summer employment to rural students.  Why not expand this to help keep student loans low?

Logged

All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
Pages: 1   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Use of this web site in any manner signifies unconditional acceptance, without exception, of our terms of use.
Powered by SMF 1.1.13 | SMF © 2006-2011, Simple Machines LLC
 
Page created in 3.221 seconds with 19 queries.