Brendan Greeley gets it way wrong in an article in the most recent Bloomberg Businessweek. In the first lines of the article entitled “Why Bin Laden Lost,” Greeley states:
The most successful organizing principle the world has ever known is a simple guarantee that we can buy and do things that have no point greater than the satisfaction of our own happiness.
Really? In the entire history of the world, Greeley latches on to a phrase from the Declaration of Independence - “the pursuit of happiness” - and asserts that it is the secret of success! Never mind the pursuit is less than 400 years old and not necessarily doing so well right now.
I suppose we shouldn’t be shocked that someone stated it outright, but my jaw dropped nonetheless. Don’t buy it! Don’t buy what Greeley’s selling! The most successful organizing principle in the world was stated most succinctly 2,000 years ago:
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
