Is it just about money or is it something else?

[elfwitch]

I've been thinking about all these heartless bastards running the world lately (not just the government ones, but the business ones too). I sit and wonder if they are really without compassion and conscience or is it something else? Is it just money? Are they so obsessed with making money that it overrides all rational though and human decency? The only other explanation is that some of these people are just plain EVIL. They know they are causing misery and death and they just don’t care. How do these people look at themselves in the mirror every day? How can they sleep? The ones that are married, how can their spouses not say something? Are they just as heartless and cold as the people they are married to? What about the ones with kids? Daddy just caused one thousand more people to go without food or shelter today honey, how was your day at school? I just don’t understand it.

Anybody got any ideas?

[sangh0]

1. It's not about money.

It's about power. Money is just a means to an end. They don't want to sell stuff. That's too much work. They want to give orders and have them obeyed. That requires the impoverishment of the population

[elfwitch]

2. okay if it is power...

It the quest for power so strong that it overrides all other fellings and such? Are they so power-mad that they don't even think about anything else?

[rucky]

9. Life is a Cecil B Demille epic

...and they are the "good guys."

They have their twisted faith to rationalize their position and their decisions... their wealth and power is evidence of their god-given entitlement to rule. Money is how they keep score. This mentality is as old as the hills. Money worshippers - even those of the trailer-park variety - reinforce that sense of entitlement, and that's why so many Americans look up to these people as the good guys.

They also have an ivory tower mentality that prevents them from putting themselves in other people's shoes. There are too many people in this country who are unable to see things from perspectives other than their own. They're just not wired for it. EVERYTHING is broken down into black and white, and what serves them is right. And they have no capability for self-reflection. There's the root of our basic philosophical differences.

Basically, they're highly functioning sociopaths.

Wanna know how to make 'em go beserk? Tell them what they are.

[elfwitch]

10. The villain is the hero in his own story?

Lex Luthor always thinks that he is the hero?
The Joker never questions his motives?
I guess I can accept that to a certain degree.

[Qutzupalotl]

3. Good questions.

All I can say is that they probably don't think of themselves as evil. They have rationalized their behavior to the point where if they cause people to lose their jobs, they think it's helping the economy by allowing businesses to hire labor cheaper. And if they can make obscene profits for themselves with shady deals and get away with it, they see no harm done. They think they're just helping their family, etc. I'm guessing the decline started with a few questionable "gray area" deals, then just went downhill from there. But you're right, there are some sick people running things.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

5. exactly

even worse, remember what they say about intentions and the road to hell. It's very possible, in fact they say it in their own words, that they believe they are doing good.

[pocoloco]

4. I sure hope it's caused by evil,

I'd hate to think it was connected in some way to human nature.

[LittleApple81]

7. Sorry. Humanity ain't pretty. n/t

[Brucey]

6. I doubt if there is any rational thinking going on,

only rationalizing. Yes, it's about money. And power. And status. If you lead the good life, it is easy to justify what you're doing.

[elfwitch]

8. so...

You think that they don't even think about the things that they are doing and how horrible they are for others? At some point along the way or all along, they lost their ability to feel any remorse for their actions?

[leftyandproud]

11. no

they don't all care about money...They just happen to believe government has no role in promoting the welfare of its citizens. The consequence of this may be to increase private sector wealth, but this is not the main intention of their policies.

[Kanary]

12. I remember

a lot of years ago, when conservative Xians first started espousing all that stuff about how god wanted you to be successful, and if you had enough faith, you would become prosperous, etc etc etc. I don't know if it still is, but it was preached heavily at that time, and I see a lot of changes since then: the focus on "prosperity" rather than the message of the New Testament (love your neighbor).

Also, in the "secular" area, all the talk was about "having the edge"... in other words, beating out the next guy, no matter what it took to do that. After enough years of that, people get programmed to compete with everyone for everything no matter what (including behind the wheel of a car.)

Just watching people drive, it gives me the impression it's not only about money or power... it's competition, no matter what.

Kanary, who needs to say that she is not labeling all Xians... the mainstream are still trying to talk about "love your neighbor"

[jokerman93]

13. I think it's foolish to underestimate

the influence of a more or less tacit but fevered hyper-christian eschatology in all of this. Many of these warmongers and neo-fascists, as well as their trailer-park supporters, are unconcerned with the immediate consequences and costs in human life and suffering because of a radical faith in the over-arching sanctity of their mission.

There is nothing more dangerous than men or nations with a divine dispensation.

[DrFunkenstein]

14. Fear Of Being Vulnerable

People set up barriers for having to confront themselves. Money, power, careers all do a good job of distraction. Do does DU. The big difference is that we try to connect ourselves to the suffering and joys of others, while the money-hungry tend to be more egotistic or concerned only with their small circle of friends and family.

[cosmicdot]

15. to quote a former supervisor: "at least I made a lot of money"

this after years of abusing subordinates and making one bad decision after another ... it's part of the good ol'boy sociology - many don't care about the company so much as they do themselves and lining their pockets with money ... they define who fits their mold ... they maintain their power by perpetuating their powerbase ... thus, putting incompetents into positions which slowly but surely hurts the company they work for over time ... many good ol'boy networks are cancers on an organization; and, in the bigger picture, society-at-large ... they will excommunicate someone in a heartbeat if that someone does something against the clique ... they don't care about things like 'the Founding Principles' ... their mean-spiritedness comes with the territory ... it helps when fitting the mold ...

[smirkymonkey]

16. Look up "Sociopath"

in the DSM - most plausible explaination I have encountered.

[grasswire]

17. well...

...one motive does not drive them all. Some are in it for money, some for empire and a place in history, some simply because they can do it. And there is some evil, yes.

To understand the Bush family, you would have to read the Malthusian and Cartesian theories espoused by the elites and the particular history of the families who have populated Skull & Bones and Yale.

It's particularly instructive to read about the Bush family's multi-generational romance with the depopulation of lesser peoples. They just don't have reverence for life outside the circle of those who are on their mega rolodex. Nothing else matters but their own people. This is a family that was so hopped up on depopulating third world peoples that Poppy Bush's nickname in Congress was "Rubbers" because he was obsessed with the proliferation of brown and black people.

They live in a whole other reality. They use lesser people like us when we are useful, and they don't mind large numbers of us dying if it will smooth their path.

Right now the race is for water and oil, to capture and control the remaining supplies before other cabals can do so.

Think about Iran Contra. Think about Venezuela. Nothing will stand in the way of the cabal.

Now I've scared myself. We're truly living in precarious times.