greedastrophe, extended

greedastrophe®; greed[1] + catastrophe[2].

Greed is not, never was, nor ever will be - any 'good.'

A greedy person who eats too much food may become ill/obese.

A greedy person who seeks/has more wealth than they may (reasonably) use is said to be rich beyond avarice.

In an infinitely resourced world with equal access, no damage may accrue from greed (except possibly to the greedy themselves, cf. obesity.)

But our once jewel-like planet is resource-limited.

A greedastrophe occurs whenever greed causes a catastrophe.

These greedastrophes may be seen all around us, look at almost any form of resource 'harvesting;' mining/oil (grossly inadequate compensation[3], land/scenery degradation), farming (soil degradation, water over-extraction), forestry (habitat destruction, soil-erosion, scenery degradation), fishing (over-extraction, possible extinction). Some resource harvesting (mining/oil) automatically leads to resource depletion, some 'renewable' harvesting (farming, forestry, fishing) could be sustainable but often isn't.

Catastrophes ensue when any resource collapses, such as by damage or depletion. It is thought that in-ground reserves of coal & iron are sufficiently massive for (we, here and now!) not to have to worry about, but they are finite & so eventually exhaustible. Oil reserves are thought (by some) to be in terminal decline. Many experts assess ocean fishing to be threatening to pass, if not actually having passed, the sustainability point. Forestry is almost everywhere a disaster.

A peculiar catastrophe is occurring in the US, mirrored somewhat in Israel, whereby the so-called élites are running the country on an horribly immoral basis. (And some would say 'illegal,' but illegal is basically only a definition thing - especially with the UN having been corrupted - largely by US + the M-W Lobby + Israel = Usrael.) What sort'a immoral basis, I hear someone ask? Well, try 'murder for spoil.' As in the illegal invasion of Iraq by GWBush&Co, now turned brutal occupation; murder for oil. And likewise invasion/occupation by Israel of the now largely ex-Palestine; murder for land & water. All sorts of US entities - read: corporations & their hangers-on, defense (= offence(!)), oil - are getting filthy-rich from these various 'murder for spoil' operations; what's that if not avarice in action?

Then, there's the US tax and social policies, on the one hand benefiting the (already filthy) rich, on the other leaving squillions in the lurch - miserable health care, declining education & reducing other services. IMHO that's not just a greedastrophe but a total disgrace as well. The so-called democratically elected government of the so-called richest nation on Earth can't/won't honor their responsibilities. Such tax and social policies may go beyond greed to criminal negligence.

Finally, a very special resource (= unique!), namely our once jewel-like planet's ecosphere is thought (by many) to be in immediate & immense danger from CO2 accumulation, caused primarily by the burning of (carbon-based) fossil fuels plus deforestation - and perhaps even cows' farts, et cetera(!??) If (when!!?) this catastrophe occurs, it may well be the ultimate one, and since the forces 'driving' us towards this catastrophe, hindering/restraining almost all efforts to avoid this catastrophe are the (venal!) so-called élites (driven, observably, primarily by greed...) well, that'd be it:

  the 'perfect,' or ultimate greedastrophe.

-=*=-

PS How will the so-called élites survive?

Ref(s):

[1] greed n. excessive desire, esp. for food or wealth. [from *greedy] [POD]

greedy adj. (-ier, -iest) 1 having or showing greed. 2 (foll. by for, or to + infin.) very eager.  greedily adv. greediness n. [Old English] [ibid.]

[2] catastrophe n. 1 great and usu. sudden disaster. 2 denouement of a drama.  catastrophic adj. catastrophically adv. [Greek strepho turn] [ibid.]

[3] The 'sovereign' owners of any resource are, in order, the owner of the land (farming, 'private' forestry), the people of the country (mining/oil, 'public' forestry, local ocean fishing), or the world's population as a whole (open ocean fishing), all only indicatively.

On the 'fair exchange is no robbery' principle, any harvester should be on a 'cost plus fair profit' basis (i.e. the bulk of the benefit going to the 'sovereign' owners), as opposed to the 'what the market will bear' basis (with the bulk of the benefit going to some nebulous shareholders, after obscene CEO payouts, that is), which is *exactly* the case with most mining/oil - as in Aus, say. We, the sheople, are lucky to get the company tax-rate (30%) of any 'taxable' profit (i.e. after all expenses, however profligate). This is usually a piddlingly small amount in comparison, and amounts to a massive rip-off. When it comes to oil, some countries have managed to nationalise their oil resources (Iran, say; Iraq before 2003) and benefit proportionally better than other oil-possessing regions not so nationalised. But on top of the oil-producers' 'take' come further massive (rip-off) profits, cf. the record 'earnings' of the US oil-majors.

Equity and justice *demand* fair revenue sharing, *reject* all rip-offs. But rip-offs are not one-offs, they seem to be an essential part of the "Harvard Business School (for sharks)," mainly US corporations' modus operandi. These filthy rip-offs must be stopped, just as the ultimate greedastrophe itself must be stopped.