The old saying – ‘Money is the root of all evil’ – has never been more factual than it is in 2012. As the issue relates to the typical subject matter of this blog, animals are too often the victims of greed. That is a given.

But the problem is also larger and covers territory across a wide spectrum. What is war typically about? One country or group wants what another country or group has. It might be land or it might be more. But it’s about taking something – physical or not – that belongs to someone else.

The unending desire for more and more and more wealth or just amassing stuff tends to act as a steamroller over the innocent people and animals who happen to find themselves in the way.

Companies send the manufacturing of their products to China or other cheap-labor nations because the labor is cheap – period. The lower the costs, the more salary goes to the CEO and to the corporate presidents and vice-presidents populating the upper levels of these companies.

I’ve long wanted to believe that in my lifetime I might see the trend reverse, to a point where compassion mattered more than profit, where at least people mattered more than gross sales. I’m beginning to wonder if we can ever get there.

Greed is seeping deeper and deeper into our society, like a horrible infection. Enough is never enough.

In one area of the mix, what I see are politicians calling for a roll-back of protections for the environment. If people get sick from the air they’re breathing or the water they’re drinking, that’s a small price to pay for better corporate profit margins. I see the factory farming industry trying to throw up an iron curtain around its facilities, after recent cases of abuse uncovered with undercover cameras.

The extremists who defend GREED as their religion slam anyone who might have the nerve to suggest the health of children should come first. They don’t want regulations that might protect the health and welfare of ordinary citizens. There is a cost to protecting the public health and it eats from the pigsty where CEO bonuses might come from. And to the corporatist, the animal-welfare advocates are the wackos? – Really?

If I’m labeled as a wacko for speaking up for animals and children, I’ll take that label and throw it back in their faces.