“Greed is good. Greed works.” Gordon Gekko, hero of the 1987 movie Wall Street, was the unabashed proponent of wealth and capitalism. For Gekko greed was good and lunch was for wimps.
Fast forward twenty-five years, through one of the world’s worst financial crises, and greed is looking considerably less attractive.
62% of our responders thought that of all the seven deadly sins, greed was the biggest problem for our country, and 52% thought that it was the most evil of the sins.
Political affiliation and household income impacted responses. 68% of Democrats cited greed as the country’s biggest problem compared to 55% of Republicans – with 12% of Republicans finding sloth the bigger problem.
Perhaps not surprisingly 67% of those with an income of $40 thousand or less thought greed the greatest problem compares to only 50% of those earning $100 thousand and more. Gluttony is seen as the second most problematic of the seven sins for the country, mentioned by 11% of responders, and 22% of responders with an income over $100 thousand.
When asked which of the sins was their own major problem, a scant 6% admitted to greed – the least frequently mentioned of all the seven sins. Pride was the most cited at 30%, rising to 40% for the over sixty-fives. Sloth and envy were the next most frequently mentioned at 16% and 15%, followed by wrath and lust both at 11% and gluttony at 10%.
Men and women recognized different sinful traits as a their own particular problem. Lust was mentioned by 19% of men but only 4% of women, envy on the other hand was admitted as a problem by only 9% of men but by 21% of women.
