Stupidity, ignorance and greed are the core reasons for so much suffering of Humanity but are perpetuated by neoliberal greed and by pro-One Percenter Mainstream Media Lying, including Lying by Omission, that notably result in ignorance and fear.
Set out below is an alphabetical compendium of notable opinions variously about the stupidity, ignorance and greed that threaten Humanity - and indeed presently do so existentially via nuclear weapons (a predicted Humanity-decimating Nuclear Winter), climate change (a predicted Humanity-decimating Climate Genocide) and poverty (presently 15 million people die avoidably from deprivation each year in a Global Avoidable Mortality Holocaust) (see “Nuclear weapons ban, end poverty & reverse climate change”:
https://sites.google.com/site/300orgsite/nuclear-weapons-ban ).
Of course, despite our best endeavours we are all variously stupid, ignorant and greedy but we must expose and oppose the over-the-top Stupidity, Ignorance and Egregious Greed (Stupidity, Ignorance and Evil Greed or SIEG as in “Sieg heil!”) of the right-wing, neoliberal, "the mob and capital"-supported extremists already in power and rampant in Trump America and strengthening in Europe (pro-Brexiteers in the UK and the far-right and neo-Nazis in Central Europe) and in Australia (notably with the re-election of the right-wing, pro-coal, effective climate change denialist, US lackey and Trumpist Coalition with the crucial support of the dominant Murdoch media Empire, the racist, bigoted, far-right One Nations Party, and the pro-coal, hard right and neoliberal United Australia Party of billionaire Clive Palmer).
ATMORE. Harry Atmore (New Zealand Independent MP for Nelson debating the “Employment Promotion Bill” in the New Zealand Parliament during the Depression) (1936): “If there is a surplus of production, why should not the people be fed? No matter what line of thought we take up it will lead us to this conclusion: there is plenty of everything actual or potential throughout the world, but it is not available to the peoples because of the stupidity , ignorance and greed of certain persons who have fastened monetary shackles on men and women” (Mr Atmore , New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, “Employment Promotion Bill”, volume 244, 1936, page 431).
B. B (author of “Probability Baccarat”); editorial review: “Two things you need to know for sure: 1. The casino will get it's percentage cut whether you win or lose. Simply the cost of doing business there. 2. The main house advantage is not the percentage, it's the stupidity, ignorance and greed of the players. There is only 1 trend in a shoe and that's its mathematics. If we conjure up for ourselves any other trends and gamble, our stack of chips will disappear” (B, “Probability Baccarat”, self-published 2017; editorial review on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Probability-Baccarat-B/dp/B076FKSCPC ).
BHATNAGAR, Sushma Bhatnagar Indian palliative care specialist doctor) , “Pain is one of the major symptoms in cancer patients, patients dying from other chronic diseases and the elderly terminally ill. Out of the 58 million that presently dies worldwide yearly, 60% needs palliative care, 34 million. There exist simple, affordable, scientifically valid methods that are acceptable and maintainable at a community level that will control up to 90% of all pain in these patients. The tragedy is that only a lucky few will get adequate therapies and care and thus much unnecessary suffering occurs. Human stupidity, ignorance and greed, of both corruptible officials and especially of the large of international pharmaceutical companies, are the two main reasons why e.g. the essential drugs are not available, e.g. in the case of pain control generic morphine, that should not cost more than aspirin. The irony is that in India, the world’s largest producer of licit opium for the pharmaceutical trade, the use of these drugs is one of the lowest in the world. Instead much more expensive, for the majority of India’s patients non generic drugs, that not are better, often will be available due to aggressive unethical marketing” (Sushma Bhatnagar, “Freedom from pain”, page 45, Dr Sushma Bhatnagar , editor, Sixteenth International Conference of Indian Association for Palliative Care”, 2009).
BUDDHA. Buddha (founder of Buddhism): “There is no wealth like knowledge, and no poverty like ignorance” (“50 wise and profound quotes on stupidity and ignorance”: https://www.quotespeak.com/life-quotes/wise-quotes/50-knowledge-stupidity-ignorance-quotes/ ).
DOBSON. Frank Dobson (Labor MP) addressing the House of Commons during the Global Financial Crisis (2009-2009) (2008): “I must emphasise that the people of this country will not tolerate this House failing to recognise the fact that these horrors are being visited upon us as a result of the stupidity, ignorance and greed of a large number of people in the financial services industry. That is why we need to reform the regulations, and to insist that all the international bodies of which we are a member do the same, so that the stupidities of the banking industry are not visited on ordinary decent people all over the world” (Frank Dobson, UK House of Commons, Hansard, 18 March 2008: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080318/debtext/80318-0012.htm ).
FOLDVARY. Fred Foldvary (US economist, lecturer in economics at San Jose State University, California) on the crucial need for “sympathy” for others (2017) : When we dig down through all the layers to the roots of the causes, we find three fundamental causes of social problems: ignorance, apathy, and greed… Apathy, greed, and ignorance are mutually reinforcing. Some folks take more than they morally deserve, but in ignorance. Many people are apathetic about a social problem because they are not informed. People can be aroused to action with a well-formulated presentation of some problem that evokes their sympathy, as is done with appeals to charity. The reduction of ignorance is also related to greed, since sympathy can replace greed with giving. The desire of a person for the goods of others or goods that harm others can be reduced by any sympathy he has for the well-being of others. A greedy person might steal from strangers but not from a friend” ( Fred Foldvary, “Ignorance, apathy and greed”, Progress, 17 April 2017:
https://www.progress.org/articles/ignorance-apathy-and-greed ).
IZAWA. E. Izawa (1997): “In Defense of Cynicism. We live in a world where victims of hate, stupidity, ignorance, and greed look up teary-eyed at the media cameras and whimper, "Why me? I never thought this could happen to me." To which the Cynic replies, "Welcome to the real world. It's been around you the whole time." Cynicism is often the first step out of naivete, it seems” (E. Izawa, “In defense of cynicism”, 1997: https://www.mit.edu/~rei/cynic.essay ”.
KNELL. William Knell (novelist) in “The Dark Master”: “The next day the clean forest air gave way to the stench of the town. Sweat, sewage and cooking food combined in a singularly unpleasant odor that almost took away his breath. Prying eyes watched his every move as he travelled with others on the common road toward the village. He had no fear of their stupidity, ignorance and greed. But this confirmed his desire to live apart. Mindless men willing to sell their wives and sisters for anything valuable met all the travelers and newcomers to the village at the break in the trees just off the road” ( William Knell, “The Dark Master”, self-published, 2011).
KOLLMANN. Natalia Kollmann detailing the destruction of irreplaceable cultural artifacts: “Historical artifacts ruined by Mankind’s stupidity, ignorance and greed… Ancient artifacts are literally irreplaceable, yet people still destroy them” (Natalia Kollmann, “Historical artifacts ruined by Mankind’s stupidity, ignorance and greed”, Detechter,
https://detechter.com/historical-artifacts-ruined-mankinds-stupidityignorance-greed/ ).
O’ROURKE. P. J. O’Rourke (American comedian): “Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power” (P. J. O’Rourke quoted in Brainyquote:
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/p_j_orourke_106010 ).
POLYA. Gideon Polya (Australian scientist, writer, artist and humanitarian) (2019): “ Outstanding physicist Stephen Hawking has repeatedly stated the essence of the existential threats from nuclear weapons and climate change: “(2007, 2018): “We see great peril if governments and societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete and to prevent further climate change”... Yet, for example, Stupid, Ignorant and Egregiously Greedy (SIEG as with Dr Strangelove and “Sieg heil”) Trump America has torn up the multilateral non-proliferation agreement with Iran, and has rejected the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement that aims for less than a catastrophic plus 2C temperature rise” (Gideon Polya, “ Review: “This Land Is Our Land. An Immigrant’s Manifesto ” By Suketu Mehta – Trumpism Trumped”, Countercurrents, 26 July 2019: https://countercurrents.org/2019/07/review-this-land-is-our-land-an-immigrants-manifesto-by-suketu-mehta-trumping-trumpism ).
Gideon Polya (2019): “Mehta [author of “This Land is Our Land”] properly excoriates the hate speech of US President Trump and powerfully describes the scary rise of neo-fascist populism in the US and Europe as due to “The alliance between the mob and capital” [from Hannah Arendt]. The paradoxical but powerful political union between angry, disempowered and frightened workers of America and a mendacious, populist billionaire is a dangerous political reality that has spread to Europe and Australia. The Trumpists are Stupid, Ignorant and Egregiously Greedy (SIEG as in “Sieg heil”) but are gaining power thanks to the mendacious Mainstream media (notably the Murdoch Media Empire) persuading poor and disempowered SIEG workers to scapegoat minorities from refugees to scientists and vote for ruthless billionaires whose interests are antithetical to those of ordinary humanity” (Gideon Polya, “ Review: “This Land Is Our Land. An Immigrant’s Manifesto ” By Suketu Mehta – Trumpism Trumped”, Countercurrents, 26 July 2019: https://countercurrents.org/2019/07/review-this-land-is-our-land-an-immigrants-manifesto-by-suketu-mehta-trumping-trumpism ).
Gideon Polya (2019): “The stupidity, ignorance and egregious greed - SIEG, as in the Nazi “Sieg Heil” salute - of the pro-war, “5-Eyes” and US Alliance politicians and populace means resolute ignoring of the immense mass murder of their fellow citizens in the ongoing US-imposed Opiate Holocaust [UNODC: 0.6 million drug deaths annually, mostly opioid-related]” (Gideon Polya, “4 Decade US War On Iran - Opiate Holocaust & 4 Million Iranian Deaths From Violence & Imposed Deprivation”, Stop state terrorism: https://sites.google.com/site/stopstateterrorism/2019-07-21 ).
RUSSELL. Bertrand Russell (UK mathematician and philosopher): “One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision” (“50 wise and profound quotes on stupidity and ignorance”: https://www.quotespeak.com/life-quotes/wise-quotes/50-knowledge-stupidity-ignorance-quotes/ ).
TWAIN. Mark Twain: “The jury system puts a ban on intelligence and honesty and a premium upon ignorance, stupidity ,and perjury” (AZ Quotes: https://www.azquotes.com/author/14883-Mark_Twain/tag/stupidity ).
WHITEHEAD. Alfred North Whitehead (UK mathematician and philosopher): “Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge” (“50 wise and profound quotes on stupidity and ignorance”: https://www.quotespeak.com/life-quotes/wise-quotes/50-knowledge-stupidity-ignorance-quotes/ ).