[ArGee]

Until you can come up with a reliable, foolproof way to distinguish between greed and ambition,

Reliable and foolproof? Hardly. But there are some indicators. Those who polluted rivers because it would be too expensive to clean up the waste might be considered "greedy." Those who hid their debts with phony partnerships to drive up their stock prices when they weren't making money (e.g. Enron) might be considered "greedy."

Shalom.

[dsc]

"Those who polluted rivers because it would be too expensive to clean up the waste might be considered "greedy."

Perhaps, but that ignores the historical context. Dumping waste in rivers was long an accepted practice. Then, too, the question of whether they were greedy would also depend on the magnitude of the relative cost to the company. If they were scrabbling to survive, I don't think the word greedy would apply.

I'd rather put up with some dirty rivers than to have an economy such as that of, for instance, the Philippines. I like to swim, fish, go boating, etc., but none of that matters when you're faced with starvation and selling your daughters into brothels.

"Those who hid their debts with phony partnerships to drive up their stock prices when they weren't making money (e.g. Enron) might be considered "greedy."

Perhaps, but it seems to me that the central problem there was not greed, but dishonesty. If they had made the same amount of money honestly, I wouldn't call them greedy.

It is the profit motive that makes an economy work. The desire for profit is the fuel, the life's blood, without which there is no creation of wealth. (And I refer to the process of making the pie bigger, of lifting all boats, not of dipping into other people's pockets.)