Are we encouraged to be greedy Ivor? I think the Advertisement Industry tries to tempt us to renew or replace things, but I do not believe that they try to get us to buy more of anything. I credit human beings with a bit more sense than that.

Is "greed" the sole preserve of those of one particular political slant?

Paul Burke came out with this in an earlier post of his- "Trust Teri to dig up 'politics of envy'. As though politics of gluttony, pride, avarice, anger and sloth weren't a thousand times worse."

Now while the "politics of envy" is a well known soubriquet for left-wing political thinking in the UK, the others he mentions are not necessarily restricted, or only applicable, to those on the right.

Your arguement that Capital and Labour are at odds is ludicrous, both are interdependent, they always have been, one cannot exist without the other. DonT is perfectly correct when he states:

"the single largest problem we have is the "US & THEM" which prevents capital and labour working together for the benefit of all."

Although just to emphasise the point I would have inserted, "mentality held by some" after "US & THEM".

"Neither C., nor an individual, makes cars, Labour does.

Yet Labour thereby 'makes' the profits, which it doesn't see much of." - Ivor

Now that is a gross over simplification isn't it?

You mention Capital and Labour - Where does Management come into your equation? Strictly speaking it falls on the side of Labour, Capital is after all only "money", and that is not money as in what you or I see it as. That is money as an abstract, a tool that is there to be used by those who know how to, and out of those Ivor, for a fair percentage of them, money has no value at all.