5. October 2009 by student.

What is greed? Greed is the burning want for more of anything beyond the essential needs of an individual. Greed is wanting more than you need even though it may deny other peoples legitimate needs or access to certain resources. Also, greed often involves using wealth to gain power over others, or by denying others wealth and power to benefit yourself. Many believe it is morally wrong to take away from others to benefit yourself. For example; someone buying a cheap gift for their girlfriend so they can turn around and buy an X-box 360 for themselves.            Now that we have established what greed is, now we need to ask, “is greed good for America? ”. There is no answer. Greed is responsible for many things good and bad. It is responsible for many of the dark sides of society. It is the reason for crooked cops and crooked politicians. It feeds the constant efforts to destroy labor unions that protect basic workers rights. Greed has produced tax cuts that have given money to the rich and in effect taken it away from the poor. It has led to the immigration policies in which hundreds of poor women and men die everyday trying to make their way to America. Greed is responsible for much of the corruption we see in today’s economy.            Is it possible that greed is good for America? Greed is a source of motivation for many; the desire for more will drive some to do anything. Some argue that greed encourages productivity and progress. In many cases I agree because people want more security and power than anything else. This leads to productivity because when many people want something so badly they will work as hard as they can to get it. There is nothing wrong with honestly working hard to get something you want. It is the greed and power achieved at the expense of others and by cheating the system that is morally wrong.            Greed is a vast topic and must be narrowed down to make appropriate criticisms. How power and wealth are achieved is a major factor in determining the severity of greed. I don’t believe that if you have worked harder than to obtain your power and wealth, no matter how much you have, it should not be considered greedy. Now if your power and wealth were achieved at the expense of others or by dishonesty, then I would consider that person extremely greedy. Determining greed also depends on the status of the person viewing the greed. For example; most rich people looking at a fellow rich person are not going to consider those fellow rich people as greedy. Additionally if a person has already satisfied their needs and their wants they have no reason to call another person greedy because greed is just a criticism for someone who is simply satisfying their wants.            Despite anyone’s views on greed, greed will indefinitely still be present in today’s society. Greed will also continue as a source of fuel for society to run on. Giving people the initiative to do better. It will cause some to become extremely rich and it will cause others to become homeless. However greed is around every corner because America has adopted a culture of greed and self-satisfaction.

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5. October 2009 by student.

my name is ryan garrison. ever since i have been in collge all people do is party;which is great i love to party. but over 90 percent of those people at the party drink. they do not drink socially or just to have a good time, they drink to where they do not remember what all happened that night. i am not going to lie i drink but i do not do it to get hammered. some of these college students just do not have a clue what they are doing to their body and to their future. drinking alcohol kills brins cells and drinking beer puts a lot of weight on you if you do not work out. it is one thing to go out one or two nights a week to a party and have a couple beers with ur friends or have a few shots, but people will try and drink a whole 12 pack at a party just to say they did it and it looks cool. some people actually judge you on how u drink. if you can chug a beer ur a baby or if u can take shots then get the hell o ut of here but some people just like to go to parties and have a good time with their friends and not get hammered.

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