A column was published last Thursday that conjectured “selfishness” as a reconciliation to the flaws in capitalism. I simply cannot allow this to justify the corruption in capitalism. The premise considers selfishness as inherent in human nature.

Greed is one of our most common vices. To say, however, that even selfless acts are selfish, due to self-satisfaction, is exorbitant. While we do receive a satisfying feeling when helping one another, it is not characterized by greed. Selfishness is the “stinginess resulting from a concern for your own welfare and a disregard of others” (according to Merriam-Webster).

To equate charity, compassion and other philanthropic endeavors to selfishness is somewhat paradoxical. The contradiction lies within the assertion that unselfish acts are selfish. This is simply absurd, as we know that humans have the tendency to forget themselves and help others.

A society with a concern for justice, equality and liberty is not characterized by how selfish its individuals can be, but by how unselfish its individuals can be. The legal and regulatory systems placed upon capitalism, and governed by representatives, are merely reflections of these beliefs.

Also, I find it difficult to believe that a society composed of 78.4 percent Christians (according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2010), the proprietors of moral doctrine, can fall into the same vice that has, in the past, garnered barbarism, hysteria and political dominance. Alas, this is reality, and I will not use religious morality as the backbone of my counter-assertions. Using religious morals to combat the contradiction in private capitalism would be too easy.

I shall approach capitalistic greed from a different angle. Dinesh D’Souza, a writer and speaker for NPR, said, “Capitalism civilizes greed in much the same way that marriage civilizes lust.” Is D’Souza saying that capitalism makes greed “good,” as it is used as a “channeling” force? Does capitalism mitigate the “bad” in greed?

By logical parameters, that would no doubt reveal yet another paradox — there is no such thing as “good greed.” If we are to abide by humanity’s ethical and moral codes, even under a capitalistic system, then greed is no doubt a bad behavior. Thus, greed must never be allowed to govern the decisions of man. To allow it would be to defy the principles this country was founded upon.

Citizens of a capitalist system do not thrive on greed. Yet, you could say that people allow greed to motivate them toward material goods. However, greed is not, or at least should not be, the fuel of capitalism.

Capitalism, in the classical liberal sense and now borrowed by modern conservatives, was designed so that markets would essentially govern themselves (the invisible hand). Classical capitalism worked through the industrial age (the rise of factories); however, it ultimately led to the Great Depression. From this, we saw the rise of institutional regulation of capitalism, which brought us out of the depression.

Thorstein Veblen, an institutional economist, wrote the “Theory of Business Enterprise” in 1904, counter-asserting the neoclassical view that capitalism was efficient. He wrote that “businesses are hindered by their owners’ pursuit of profit over industrial infrastructure.” To Veblen, owners who greedily sought monetary or materialistic gains were tainted with “excessive credit, conspicuous consumption and ultimately a control of political power.” He could not have been more correct.

The desire for money and material goods isn’t always delineated to greed. Citizens are always attempting to provide themselves and their families with a better living environment, healthier food and a better education. Because capitalism creates access to a huge volume of goods, it allows us to first satisfy “needs,” and then, of course, “wants.”

Greed and selfishness are characterized by “want.” The initial motivation of all humans, especially in nuclear families, is to fulfill survival necessities, which are much different than “wants.” In addition, survival needs may provision a formation of governance and security.

The misconception in modern capitalist societies is that all citizens may become wealthy, though I could seriously contend that there is absolutely no feasible way for everybody to become wealthy. It is frivolous to assume that wealth may become bourgeois if everybody “tried.” We simply would not have enough money. We could, therefore, premise that there will always be humans fulfilling “needs” instead of “wants,” first and foremost, because there are numerous people in capitalist systems that are impoverished. This excludes the hasty generalization that the impoverished are lazy and unmotivated.

To say that greed, the motivator of the corrupted, is civilized under capitalism is to allow another “2008 Meltdown.” Greed may lead to competitive innovation, but it also leads to obsessive behavior that drives our economy into the ground. That is why, as citizens, we should allow government to regulate capitalism and consent to accepted moral principles and their effect on legality. We allow the representatives to govern capitalism and business because, if left unfettered, it will destroy itself and choke the world of necessity.