The real greed is on the left.
To me, greed is not the enjoyment of wealth that one accumulates through hard work and ingenuity.
Greed is the sense that you are entitled to the fruits of someone else’s hard work and ingenuity.
In honor of Milton Friedman, we are streaming the ground-breaking Free to Choose series as it originally aired in 1980 as well as an updated 1990 version. http://www.ideachannel.tv/
Volume 1 - The Power of the Market (1980)
America’s freedom and prosperity derive from the combination of the idea of human liberty in America’s Declaration of Independence with the idea of economic freedom in Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Friedman explains how markets and voluntary exchange organize activity and enable people to improve their lives. He also explains the price system. Friedman visits Hong Kong, U.S. and Scotland.
Volume 2 - The Tyranny of Control (1980)
Government planning and detailed control of economic activity lessens productive innovation, and consumer choice. Good, better, best, are replaced by “approved” or “authorized.” Friedman shows how “established” industries or methods, seek government protection or subsidization in their attempts to stop or limit product improvements which they don’t control. Friedman visits India, Japan and U.S.
Volume 3 - Anatomy of Crisis (1980)
The Great Depression has been popularly viewed as a failure of capitalism. The stock market crash, the failure of the Bank of the United States, loss of personal savings, were visible symbols supporting this belief. As Friedman explains, the real cause was the unseen failure of government policy and action. Yet this crisis resulting from government failure leads to decades of government expansion.
Volume 4 - From Cradle to Grave (1980)
The welfare state arises from the attempt to do good with other people’s money. Such attempts always fail because: Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as his own. Welfare is supply driven. Those spending the money use force to collect it and to insure those receiving it use it for “right” purposes. Good intentions are corrupted by bad means. Friedman visits U.S. and Britain.
Volume 5 - Created Equal (1980)
The Declaration of Independence says, “all men are created equal.” Friedman explains that this did not mean all persons should or will have equal talents or income. Equal opportunity to better one’s self, and the right to personally benefit from the gains realized, are consistent with freedom. Equality of results requires force. Taking from some to give to others destroys freedom and removes the incentive for creating new wealth. Friedman visits India, U.S. and Britain.
Volume 6 - What’s Wrong with our Schools (1980)
Parental choice and parental responsibility in the education of children is the U.S. tradition and is consistent with a free society. Centralized government control has eroded freedom and adversely affected the quality of education. The poor help pay for education for the future rich. Friedman has long advocated using vouchers to solve the problem. He explains why. Friedman visits U.S. and Britain.
Volume 7 - Who Protects the Consumer? (1980)
Various government agencies have been created on the claim that they will protect the consumer. These agencies restrict freedom, stifle beneficial innovation, and become agents for the industries or groups they are intended to regulate. Friedman explains how the apparent chaos of the market place, the competition of many suppliers for business, is the best protection of consumer interests.
Volume 8 - Who Protects the Worker (1980)
Unions sometimes protect some workers - their members - but usually at the expense of other workers. Government protects its employees and special groups of workers at the expense of other workers. Both unions and government restrict freedom. Friedman explains how the competition of employers for the talents of workers leads to the highest wages and best working conditions.
Volume 9 - How to Cure Inflation (1980)
Inflation results when the amount of money printed or coined increases faster than the creation of new goods and services. Money is a “token” of the wealth of a nation. If more tokens are created than new wealth, it takes more tokens to buy the same goods. Friedman explains why politicians like inflation, and why wage and price controls are not solutions to the problem. Friedman visits Japan, U.S. and Britain.
Volume 10 - How to Stay Free (1980)
Democracies have only recently been considered desirable. Historically, it was feared that democracies always self destruct when citizens, forgetting that you cannot remove want and misery through legislation, insist on government actions that physically and morally bankrupt their nation. Friedman explains why the United States has so far avoided this outcome and how we can continue to do so. This program includes an interview of Dr. Friedman by Lawrence E. Spivak.
Well, no. You don't get to just supply your own definitions to suit your own feelings on the matter.
Worse, your "definition" is not even useful. One can be greedy without taking the fruits of another's work; and one can take the fruits of another's work for reasons other than the simple desire to accumulate more.
Greed is "a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed."
The key words there are "excessive desire." The word "excessive" is, of course, highly subjective; one man's "excessive" can often be the next man's "not enough."
In a rough sense, however, one can define "excess" as that point where a person's goal becomes accumulation for its own sake; or perhaps when the goal becomes to accumulate more just to have the most.