Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012 | 2 a.m.
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In response to the column by Lewis Diuguid, “Wealth and a silent addiction for more,” I find the writer to be woefully misinformed about how a private economy works.
Everything we purchase and the services we consume are generated because of someone’s desire for wealth. It is not through some sense of altruism that the baker gets up early to bake the bread that we eat. It is from a desire to enrich himself and, yes, a desire for wealth.
Why do we have iPhones and better technology? Is that because Apple has some sort of altruistic nature? No; it is a desire for wealth. As a byproduct of that desire for wealth, we get better products, better services (iTunes) and tens of thousands of jobs.
I am thankful that Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Steve Jobs had a desire for wealth. Without that desire, if they would have stopped when they were assured of making $200,000 per year, the world would be worse off because their gifts of organization and creativity would not have been exploited to be enjoyed by the rest of society. Nor would the jobs have been created that are the byproduct of their desire for wealth.
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