Seven Deadly Sins of America

So I was watching an episode of 'Charmed' about the seven deadly sins and an idea popped into my head. I wondered how we react as a country to these sins.

Wrath. (Anger). Why do we respond to our anger with blazing violence? The London riots. The LA Riots. Dropping nuclear bombs because of Peal Harbor. The war in Iraq and killing of Osama Bin Laden due to 9/11. Yelling at a waitress because your order was not exactly what you wanted. I myself have let my anger get the best of me like yelling at a subordinate that didn't deserve it. When we express our anger aren't we only hurting ourselves or those around us?

Greed. In a capitalistic society how can you not have greed? The stock market is all about greed, people trying to get rich determining whether companies do good or bad. People going on reality shows trying to win money by calling other people names and screwing them over. Spending money to play the lottery when they drive a broken down car. Athletes trying to show they have the bigger dick by asking for the most money hurting their team and the fans. People trying to always get 'paid', moving from job to job for more money. I never thought greed would ever get me but I can say that I fell for money scams because I wanted to be shown the money. So then I ask when is enough money enough not to hurt people,the country and yourself?

Lust. Look at most commercials, they show some beautiful person selling some product but do we ever remember the product? Reality shows are about getting hot people to show off trashy television. The Weiner scandal is the most recent of what seems to be yearly sex scandals. Do we not think child molestation and child pornography is because of lust? I use to call these things 'lustful stupidity' and I can say that I have had many incidents of this stupidity.

Envy. How many times do you show a friend something but they have to try to show you up by having something better? How many marriages have ended because someone wants something better than what they have? How many murders have been committed because someone wanted what someone else had? Do we not see how the current financial crisis is based on a combination of greed and envy as people wanted more than what they could afford. A long time ago envy almost made me ruin my friendships as I use to resent the friends that I felt were smarter than me or getting things that I wanted.

Pride. This is an interesting one. I believe that pride actually keeps us from doing many of the things that could potentially better ourselves and those around us. How many times have you done something wrong and not apologized for it because of pride? The current debt ceiling battle was about pride and nothing else. It's why we can never say no to other countries that ask for our help because it may make us look bad to the world or so we preceive. How about someone like me who has an inflated ego that blinds him to logic and almost gets him fired?

Gluttony. Someone once said to me there is nothing wrong with things as long as they are done in moderation. Let's see how that works. Someone getting so drunk from having 'fun' that they puke in the street, your car or in thier bed. Waking up with a hangover, do we think the overindulgance was fun? How much food do we leave in a restaurant or have to throw away each week because we bought too much? How many cars, boats, toys do we own that we rarely use? How much porn do some people indulge in a day, week, month? Having a passion such as collecting autographs can also cause one to be obssessed to the point of spending too much money they do not have.

Sloth How do these people contribute to themselves let alone to society? The 1000 lb woman who could not move and was on disability because he couldn't stop eating the ding dongs?http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1257850/Super-sized-mother-determined-worlds-fattest-woman-years.html

What about a man who dies from playing video games for 3 straight days? http://www.themedguru.com/node/43775
Having people in your life that have given up on life and the people around them, thus hurting those that love them the most.

I am sure we all have stories that relate but the real question is how much damage have we done to ourselves and to others because of these sins? Would our country be better off if we did things in moderation? I write this hoping people share their stories and the impacts!!!