Greed Undermines Everything

WASHINGTON — Private security guards paid little more than janitors and restaurant cooks are guarding many of the critical security sites in the United States, usually with minimal or no anti-terrorist training, an Associated Press investigation found. The nation's security industry found itself involuntarily transformed after Sept. 11, 2001, from an army of "rent-a-cops" to protectors of the homeland. But cutthroat competition by security firms trying to win contracts with low bids has kept wages low and high-level training non-existent. The industry is governed by a maze of conflicting state rules, according to a nationwide survey by the AP. Wide chasms exist among states in requirements for training and background checks. Tens of thousands of guard applicants were found to have criminal backgrounds.

• JJ Commentary: Greed undermines everything. As we chase after the lowest possible price, we receive the lowest possible quality. And who’s to blame? We are. The government merely reflects society’s predilections.

Greed Triumphs

Arizona business leaders are increasingly at odds with Republican Party leadership over immigration issues, particularly leaders who aim to crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers. Last week, 32 chambers of commerce sent a letter to state lawmakers and Gov. Janet Napolitano imploring them to hold off on state actions and work for "comprehensive immigration reform" in Congress this year. This puts the business sector, a key component of the Republican Party, in opposition to the party's leadership in the Legislature, which has made immigration reform a top goal this year.

The business leaders say that an Arizona-only immigration crackdown would hurt the state's competitiveness and make it less attractive for prospective employers. And, they complain, there still is not a surefire way to verify the legal status of would-be employees. That would put employers at risk of prosecution if they're later found to have an unauthorized worker on the payroll.

• JJ Commentary: Once again greed tops all other motivating factors. The god of mammon rules.

Love of Money

Ask young people about their generation's top life goals and the answer is clear and resounding: They want to be rich and famous. Eighty-one percent of 18- to 25-year-olds surveyed in a Pew Research Center poll released today said getting rich is their generation's most important or second-most-important life goal; 51% said the same about being famous. "We're seeing the common person become famous for being themselves," says David Morrison of the Philadelphia-based research firm Twentysomething Inc. MTV and reality TV are in large part fueling these youthful desires, he says. The results of the Pew telephone survey of 579 young people describe the "millennial" generation (also known as Gen Y), who were born since the early 1980s and were raised in the glow and glare of their parents' omnipresent cameras. While experts say it's natural for humans to seek attention, these young people revel in it.

• JJ Commentary: How sad. With society not giving them any moral leadership, the god of mammon has taken this generation over. With the “love of money” being the “root of all kinds of evil” (1Timothy 6:10), pity them and us