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Originally Posted by danielpalos
I suppose that the main difference of greed when applied to the pursuit of capital or happiness, is that capital is usually a private good for private individuals. Happiness is a public good for anyone. In other words, pursuing the external public good (that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable) of happiness doesn't diminish anyone else's ability to pursue happiness. The pursuit of capital is subject to any economic policies of the state involved.
I tend to view code based morals as a form of arrested development.
How would society change if there were only ten laws on the books to follow?
What would the ethics of an ideal society be like?
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It is an old cliche tha money doesn't buy happiness. As you are stating above- capito is a zero sum game, and happiness isn't. I rather think it is the opposite, in fact- the more the people around you are happy, the easier it is to persue your own happiness (and the converse is true, as I discover to my sorrow this summer, with two pairs of feuding neighbors).
In an ideal society no one's persuit of personal happiness would be impinged upon, unless it causes harm to another. That is a principle that is encoded in our constitution, but imperfectly executed. I doubt it can ever be
perfectly executed, but it can be improved as long as we hold up the concept.