Greed, Goodness, Capitalism

Greed is a Vice, according to Aristotle, simply on the grounds that it is a disordered condition of a Soul.  So, Aristotle would unequivocally reject the thesis that 'Greed is good'.  Now, that phrase has been associated with the excesses of the resurgent Free Market Capitalism of recent decades, primarily via the film Wall Street, which may have some factual roots.  In any case, because of that specific association, the possibility of an inherent relation of Greed to Capitalism has gone unaddressed.  So, generally unconsidered is that the fundamental principle of Capitalism--the Profit-motive--is equivalent to Greed, in either its descriptive or normative versions.  For, entailed in it is that simply meeting one's needs may be deficient in some respect.  Now, there may be cases in which realizing a profit is necessary to meeting one's needs.  But the formulation is indifferent to any such specification--it ascribes to Profit a Goodness that is unconditional, without a derivation from a Rational principle.  Thus, the Profit-motive in itself is a Vice, according to Aristotle.  So, not only Greed, but Capitalism itself, and not merely the variety that has emerged in recent decades, is Bad, according to Aristotle--for the Profit-seeker, independent of the harm done to any others.