Reconciling idealism with greed and "the rat race"

Life's not all black-and-white, Mr inflame*. You can do both "fighting for your ideas/beliefs" AND "join the rat race". Nothing's stopping you from doing both.

That is why there is a free market that is tempered by regulation. Elements in the private sector compete in that free market and the state applies regulation to create a fair and just environment for said competition.

Is that difficult to comprehend?

I think it is for you. You know why? The clue to this headscratching I see on your part is what you say here:

"so now that we've got nothing to motivate us except money, we all turn to it and say 'greed is good' or 'money' is what makes the world go round'. is that it?"

Apparently you have a mind conditioned by this typically-Pinoy notion that money is inherently bad, and greed is inherently destructive. Guess what, life evolved to its complex form today on the basis of greed -- a harsh environment DROVE evolution to ensure that the fittest, cleverest, and most resilient creatures lived long enough to pass on their genes to the next generation.

This "greed" for resources is what molded all life forms. Same principle applies to the development of our society. You just need to get past this notion of greed as "evil" that was ingrained in your head by that typically-Pinoy victim mentality upbringing.

Thus your question "if not the Maroons who believe in or should stand by 'Honor and Excellence', then who?" can be answered quite simply:

Apply honour and excellence in your pursuit of wealth whether that wealth be in the form of money or any other form of currency which you choose to measure your happiness and personal fulfilment by.

It's simple, really™ -- though not for the small-minded.


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* Based on a comment on AntiPinoy.com in response to the following comment by commentor "inflame":

so what’s next then? to each his own? forget fighting for your ideas/beliefs and just join the rat race? as long as i get mine, tough luck on the rest of you? go ahead and leave the country and just send a pittance back? but you’re sending dollars back, so everything is ok. you’re driving consumerism, not actually creating wealth. and wealth creation is what drives economies, not consumption.

so now that we’ve got nothing to motivate us except money, we all turn to it and say “greed is good” or “money is what makes the world go round”. is that it?

we’re all talking about wanting to change the country, revamping the system, de-toothing the oligarchy, returning the power to the people, actually inspiring/bringing light to the masses. question is, who’s going to ACTUALLY DO IT?

if not the Maroons who believe in or should stand by “Honor and Excellence”, then who? [Full comment here]