Is it the greed that makes people stupid? Or is it stupid people who are greedy?

[Yavin4]

When I look at Trump, Kushner, and Manafort, I see woefully stupid people, but they are greedy as hell. Now, is it because they were stupid first, but then got greedy, and that made them even dumber?

Or, are they greedy people first, and it's that greed that makes them do dumber and dumber things?

Which drives the other, greed? or stupidity?

[Binkie The Clown]

1. I believe greed is a reaction to a deep, gut-wrenching doubt about one's own worth as a person.

There have been plenty of smart greedy people. Greedy people are just fundamentally emotionally damaged, regardless of their IQ.

[Yavin4]

2. But doesn't greed make you do stupid things even when you're smart? nt

[Binkie The Clown]

6. Good point. I suppose any obsession does that. nt

[MineralMan]

3. Yes.

[uponit7771]

4. I find the latter is more probable, greedy people are short sighted and that kind of short

... thinking goes along with someone with little thought process discipline or exposure to mature thinking

[moondust]

5. I don't know but

I think the shift from a Main Street economy to a corporatized Wall Street economy over the past 35-40 years, and the focus on short-term profits at any cost, has made both the greed and the stupidity worse. Maybe they drive each other.