According to Laura Stokes from greed was different in the middle ages. In the middle ages it was alright for people to be rich as long as they were not being selfish about it. Being selfish was considered to be wrong. In this article Laura explains that people having "acceptable greed" has changed in the last 500 years.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/august/greed-middle-ages-080212.html
Now on wall street, self promoting behavior is displayed all the time. If people were like this in the middle ages they might have been killed for behaving in that manor. Today being greedy is almost normal. people are constantly wanting to have the best, and receive more money than the person next to them. People today I believe are more boastful. People today want to show off what they have. I think that people wanted to do this in the middle ages but do not because of fear of consequences.
"The heart of the arguments of the people I'm researching," she explained, "are socially indigenous value sets – not from an outside institution" (Laura Stokes 2008).
And, while quite different, "these value sets are present in today's society," said Stokes. Despite a heavy emphasis on greed in modern business culture, we still value social responsibility. As Stokes pointed out, "We admire most our great philanthropists who can balance both" (Laura Stokes).
I found these quotes interesting. I mostly liked the second quote because she explains that indigenous value sets still take place today. I also like that she said we value social responsibility because i believe this to be true today. For example we like the people that can be rich and yet responsible about it. We like these people because they are rich yet know how to balance having money and social responsibility. Let me know what you think about this news journal I found.
The change in 'acceptable greed' has changed also probably due to the rising population and governmental changes. Rising population means more competition for jobs, especially in a capitalistic market. As opposed to the Middle Ages, where there were more monarchies, theocracies, and feudalism. There was already an established power that was not to be challenged, so greed from citizens was discouraged. Whereas now the power cycles, so anyone is fair game so wealth and power are encouraged.
ReplyDeleteThey both have their pros and cons. Great post!