I agree with this, that capitalism as a philosophy promotes greed as a virtue. No doubt this influences the people that don't stop to question it - which I'm sure is a larger portion of the population than I would like to admit.

However, I also think that greed is something that has always and will always exist in society. Consumerism is a modern invention, by virtue of industrialization allowing us to consume, but people have always wanted more money, more power, more things.