And to hear leftists talk about Bain Capital and any other corporations that don't donate to democrats, simply trying to maximize profits (which everyone does) is greed. Of course, when they do it, it's just self-interest. There's good reason for it. Unions can't be greedy, by definition. Their hearts are in the right place.
I can't speak for "leftists", but your rant has absolutely nothing to do with anything I said. It's just another empty straw man, letting you attack a false position since you're incapable of addressing what I actually said. I've already said greed is not merely maximizing profits, but "being willing to hurt others in your lust for more and more money. It's about putting money above everything else." Yes, of course unions can be greedy, or more accurately people in them can be.
I suppose my theme is this. There are truly greedy, evil people. In general, they are found far less commonly than I think you think they are. Truly evil people of the type that would use any method to get rich, or eliminate anything standing in their way, are rare.
Yes, that's what I said. If you think you contradicted me, perhaps you should pause to read what I actually say instead of jerking your knee at what you imagine I must of said.
Best of all, the best mechanism for restraining these truly greedy people, is capitalism. To the extent all exchange has to be voluntary, you can only be as greedy as your ability to provide someone else with something they want, unless you're a thief. In such a system, greed is subordinated to service.
That's an incredibly naive view. Unfortunately, it fails on two fronts.
First, that simple, idealistic view of capitalism might work if all parties had perfect knowledge and equal resources. That is rarely the case. In real-world capitalism, the parties can hide information and misrepresent the facts, making deals lopsided. Even more, parties with extremely deep pockets can distort the market, making "voluntary" a rather empty concept.
Second, and even more to the point, your faith in the magic of capitalism once again ignores "greed". Just because something is in the best, immediate financial interests of a small set of people (e.g., the owners), does not mean it is in the best interest of all impacted parties (e.g., employees, the community, the long term interests of America as a whole). Capitalism is a tremendous system, but its Achilles heal for society is that it focuses on the good of the few, not the good of the many. Often the few and the many benefit from the same thing, and capitalism is great for all. In many others, however, the interests of the few and the many conflict.
That's where we need to find
balance, where the drive to "maximize profits" must be tempered with civilization's need to prevent harm to others. Defining and enforcing that balance is one of the key roles of government. Unfortunately, our government has been corrupted by those with extremely deep pockets. The balance has shifted too far in favor of greed, unimaginably enriching an elite few at great cost to America as a whole.
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