And yet capitalism, based on the twin fuels of greed and envy, works just fine. Those twin fuels are two of the seven deadly sins, so human emotion and frailty are a part of what makes it work.
I was out of town, over on the coast, which is why I’m late replying.
I would argue that envy and greed are not necessarily sins, if applied correctly.
It is okay to envy your neighbor, then put in the work to equal or surpass his achievement. However, if that envy is used to take from your neighbor, then, that is frowned upon.
Greed is much the same way. One can work and acquire material goods. Nothing wrong with that. If, however, the acquisition of material goods is coupled with unethical behavior, fraud, murder, etc., then, greed is bad.
I contend our current society has a lot of greed and envy. However, the greed and envy is used by our political class to justify taking from those who produce and giving to those who envy through greedy redistribution policies.