Greed has had more of a negative influence on American society than a positive influence.

1) I would first like to say that I proposed the topic and you can not change the definition of greed towards the end of debate. The definition I proposed was " intense and SELFISH desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food." Again my opponent is confused with desire and greed. Greed is a selfish version of a desire. If you believe greed is good, you agree with selfishness. So we should all consume as much resources for ourselves and leave everyone else in the world with nothing? This is totally logical. 2) Rant as much as you want about how China took control of a fraction of India, but do you know what China did in Tibet? The Chinese abolished slavery in Tibet. They also reduced taxes, unemployment, and beggary. The reason China destroyed Tibet was because of a religious war. This has nothing to do with greed. Regardless, the number of countries and global domination of the U.S. makes China invading Tibet a tiny incident. From killing millions of people in the middle east to child labor across the globe. My opponent never gives evidence showing China consumes a lot of resources or arguing how China is greedy. He merely refers to a religious war and taking over a small portion of India. I already agreed that China has some greed, but this is not at all the driving factor. 3) Telephone Company The telephone prospering had nothing to do with good marketing. It spread by word and companies viewed it as a way to get money so they marketed the phone. People wanted the phone because they wanted a way of long-distance communication, not because companies marketed it well. If somebody today created a genius alternative energy source, it would get out because of the discovery, not marketing. Marketing has a small impact and is impossible without the invention, which is not caused by greed. My dear opponent, do you believe that a one country superpower is morally correct? This is an extreme fallacy, this is exactly what the world isn't suppose to be like. One-country domination...most absurd thing I have heard. This makes me question your logic. 4) What??? Being smart is NOT at all why people get rich. Jay Zagorsky, a scientists who studied this correlation said, "Intelligence is not a factor for explaining wealth. Those with low intelligence should not believe they are handicapped, and those with high intelligence should not believe they have an advantage." Being rich takes a lot of luck, good marketing ability, and/or inherited money. According to the results of a study conducted at Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research, super-intelligent people are only as good as (or as bad as) people with average or below-average intelligence, when it comes to better management of finances. With higher taxes on the rich, wealth will still be gained, but the money will be distributed evenly. Family income of people from the top quintile grew 52%, while the bottom quintile only grew 18%. Inherited money is a big factor. The government will have more money to put into other things and more jobs can be created, thus helping the economy. 5) Scientists are progressively coming towards a solution. It is a problem, I agree, but we have made incredible technological advancements in the past and who says we can't do it again? Not having enough resources in our country is our fault, and doesn't justify taking it from another country at all. It causes more of a negative impact on the world. Well one thing it shouldn't do is cause a negative world impact and turn people against America that is for sure. Scientists should focus on an alternative method, such as the one I proposed. Taking oil from other countries doesn't at all help the world. Dropped Arguments: 1) Long Term Danger This goes unanswered throughout the debate. My opponent never even took into consideration the negative impact of Greed. I supplied sufficient evidence and examples but he merely ignored them and continued ranting on how great it makes a superpower country. I suppose my opponent supported Germany's rise of the third reich as well? 2) Evidence My opponent supplied a minuscule amount of evidence. He listed one source, Wikipedia, which is not a good source as proven in the past. My opponent never supplied direct evidence that greed led to success. He couldn't provide evidence that greed was necessary to take advantage of sources properly, rather than to intensely and selfishly abuse them. Even if he decides to bring up new evidence and arguments in the last round, this will be pointless since I can not refute the evidence/argument. 3) Energy Consumption by America My opponent did not bother to respond to how much energy we consume. This has an extreme negative impact globally and within the U.S.. Does he not know about the resource depletion in America? Scientists are trying to find alternative ways of energy for a reason. Give it time rather than to immediately take everything from everyone around us. You never know who will finally get fed up with the U.S. and bomb an extremely populated area. Don't say it isn't possible, 9/11 is a perfect example. If we upset enough countries, we will suffer immensely. Summary: Greed and desire are two totally different things. Natural desire is good, greed is the intense and selfish use of this desire. "There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed."-Mohandas Ghandi. Greed never works in nature. When we want more and more, we run out of everything, such as what happened in the coyote and rabbit example. Throughout the debate my opponent provided virtually no evidence saying that greed hasn't been eating away at humanity's resources. We must stop being so greedy and distribute energy and wealth more, and I'm not implying communism, but just more fairness for everyone. If we don't stop being greedy, nothing will get better and we can expect a drop in population because of lack of resources. The great philosopher Democritus once said, "It is greed to do all the talking but not to want to listen at all." Vote Pro Read more: http://www.finestquotes.com... Sources http://www.thetaoofmakingmoney.com... http://www.economicmobility.org...