Greed hits pretty close to the mark, but greed is only one manifestation of the larger problem of egoism. Greed is egoism expressed in materialistic terms. Powermongering, warmongering, xenophobia, "rugged individualism", "manifest destiny" and rabid religious fundamentalism are some of egoism's other manifestations. Western society has no tradition of ego transcendence - of getting our selves out of the way and acting as if we were truly part of a greater whole instead of the center of all creation. Our western religions may be based upon the teachings of men who understood ego transcendence, but those teachings have been recast in egoistic terms by the teachers' "followers". The idea that "my beliefs are right while your beliefs are evil" is one of the most ego-filled concepts I can imagine. ("God will protect me from flying bullets" is the other.)

Walt Disney's statement, "I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known," is egoism on multiple levels. First, Mickey Mouse made Disney tons of money. Mickey Mouse was also 100% Disney's creation and, thus, an alter-ego of himself. And, of course, Mickey Mouse allowed Disney to create an empire where he was all-powerful. Nobody's ever going to write a book called "The Tao of Mickey Mouse" because the Mouse is all about ego. There's no manifestation of the Tao in him.