That terrible greed
More is better. Bigger is better. Richer is better. The ingredients of the culture of greed are clearly present in Canada.
But ... isn't that the case everywhere? The endless struggle to enrich oneself and have more than someone else, you find that in almost every country on earth.
Yet sometimes it seems that greed in Canada is a bit worse than you might be used to. Perhaps that is because greed is seen by many as a positive trait. It gets you further in life. You are just a wimp if you are not driven by greed.
A big house, a cool car, all the toys you can think of.
Buy, buy, buy.
Take a look at a Canadian garage. There are often several cars there, usually very large ones like a pick-up truck, preferably with many expensive accessories on it.
What you will also see is a whole collection of devices, appliances and tools; a good consumer always wants more and more of them.
Inside it is the same. Not only is it an extra large house on an extra large piece of land, the house is packed with stuff. Lots of kitchen appliances for example, TVs everywhere, all sorts of furniture and clothing.
The accumulation of goods is very important to many. People like to show off to others.
You will quickly notice that people are nicer to you if it looks like you have a lot of money. You will also quickly see that they will quickly drop you if you are poor. Could there be some form of greed behind this?
Buying a lot of things is made possible by the credit industry. It is easy to get a lot of credit so that you can buy a lot more.
People like to poke each other in the eye with gadgets. That's what you want too, so you have to go buy it.
Many people proudly tell others how cheap or expensive they bought something.
The system of advertisements, offers, bargains and sales has been extensively developed so that you always want to get more.
Have an awful lot
It is difficult to measure the level of greed in people. And yet many new immigrants find Canada's culture of greed offensive. Does it really have to be this way?
It is easy to get caught up in the greed game. Is it worse in Canada than in other countries? Because greed is so normalized and even glorified, it is possible that Canada is an international leader in this area.
Of course you can decide not to participate, but many people find that difficult. Because then you are a lot less part of it.