After reading the post I wrote about the conversation we shared over corruption and greed in capitalist America, my friend responded to clarify his perspective on human nature as it relates to abuses of power.  I found his sentiments to be quite enlightening and hope you find his words to be as thought-provoking as I have.

“I don’t think our innate human tendency is towards greed and selfishness.  I certainly don’t want to believe this.  I’d like to believe the contrary.

However, I do believe that unchecked free market “invisible hand” capitalism leads to a dehumanizing, socially Darwinistic tendency in which we equate financial success as a sign of quality and excellence.

And this belief, I think, is a disease, an infection, an illness. I think the compulsion to make money, more money, is a mutation of the provider, or family instinct that is intrinsic to living creatures (which would be, if one must equate it with economic terms, a tendency towards community building–at a mico or macro level–which is, in a sense, a form of socialism; I think this is healthy and part of man’s true nature).”