That terrible greed
More is better. Bigger is better. Richer is better. The ingredients of a 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 others is found in almost every country on earth.
Yet, it sometimes seems like greed is a bit worse in Canada than you might be used to. Perhaps that's because many see greed as a positive trait. It gets you further in life. You're just a wimp if you're 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 vehicles there, usually very large ones like a pickup truck, preferably with lots of expensive accessories.
What you'll also see is a whole collection of devices, appliances, and tools; a good consumer always wants more and more of them.
Inside, it's the same. Not only is it an extra-large house on an extra-large lot, but it's also crammed with stuff. Lots of kitchen appliances, for example, TVs everywhere, all sorts of furniture, and clothing.
Accumulating goods is very important to many people. They like to boast about it to others.
You'll quickly notice that people are nicer to you if you seem wealthy. You'll also quickly realize that they're quick to abandon you if you're poor. Could there be some greed behind this?
Buying lots of things is made possible by the credit industry. It's easy to get a lot of credit so you can buy even more.
People love to show off their trinkets. You want that too, so you have to go buy it.
Many people proudly proclaim 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 a tremendous amount
It's difficult to gauge the extent of people's greed. And yet, many new immigrants find Canada's culture of greed appalling. Does it really have to be this way?
It's 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's quite possible that Canada scores high internationally in this area.
Of course, you can decide not to participate, but many find that difficult. Because then you're much less included.