November 20, 2017

Word: The addict in politics

Sarah Silverman, Guardian - I look at Trump and the billionaire oligarchs he surrounds himself with as addicts. I do believe they are addicted to wealth, and that wealth addiction is no different from crack addiction. It fills an empty void. They will sell their grandmothers. They’re literally selling our entire country’s health for more. I remember Garry Shandling saying in 2007 that when we put people in office who are addicted to money and power, we might as well be giving a bunch of cokeheads a mountain of cocaine and saying: ‘Divide this equally among your people.’ I see it proven true every day. And we’ve raised an entire generation to worship money at any cost, no matter how it’s made.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yep, the insatiable greed of the few is a real psych problem. And it has been known and commented on since classical times:

"Never is the thirst of greed filled nor sated. And not only are the greedy tortured by the longing to increase their possessions, but also by the fear of losing them."
(Cicero)

"But when a greedy man thinks of nothing else but profit, or money, and an ambitious man of esteem, they are not thought to be mad, because they are usually troublesome and are considered worthy of Hate. But Greed, Ambition, and Lust really are species of madness, even though they are not numbered among the diseases."
(Spinoza)