By DJ LT

For the past several weeks greed has been my pet peeve. Admittedly I have focused on the conditions that exist today, whereby virtually everybody is out for themselves. The other word that must be used is selfishness, which is part of the greed that currently plagues our island home.

More on this after The Top 20.

Spotlight, by former American Idol songstress Jennifer Hudson, remains at number one. This chart-topper currently also sits atop the Billboard hip-hop and dance charts, evidence of the song's appeal with different segments of the music industry.

Improving to number two is the dance anthem Disturbia by hot girl Rihanna. This song is simply awesome. It's catchy. The beat is hot, Rihanna is hot; it's all good and nothing bad. It's a weird title but you will find yourself singing it. I went clubbing last weekend and found myself dancing and appreciating many of Rihanna's hits. I'm thinking that Jay-Z, allegedly the person who first signed her to a contract, deserves a lot praise for discovering this pop sensation. The rest, as they say, is history.

Tumbling to number three is Jazmine Sullivan's new hit entitled Need You Bad.

Climbing to number four is The Business by Yung Berg featuring Casha, a current hip-hop fave.

Back to dance music: falling to number five is Give It To Me by Madonna, a kicking dance anthem by a veteran house, pop and disco diva.

Improving to number six is Whatever You Like by T.I.

Up to number seven is Can't Believe It by T-Pain and Lil Wayne.

Up to number eight is She's Royal by Taurus Riley. This track is one of the coolest reggae songs of the year and a former essential new tune.

More of my favourite genre: dance music.

Improving to number nine is the new hit from Ne-Yo, entitled Closer. The dance remix of this track is to die for and will have you on the dancefloor getting your groove on.

Slipping to number ten is When I Grow Up by the Pussycat Dolls, one of the hottest, sexiest and most creative groups around.

Falling to number 11 is Take A Bow, a sad love story by Rihanna.

Halting its advance at number 12 is a kicking dance track by Natasha Beddingfield, entitled Angel.

Soaring to number 13 is a hit by my namesake Lil Wayne and Bobby Valentino entitled, Mrs. Officer, one of the hottest songs around and a former essential new tune.

Falling to number 14 is Defence (the anthem) by Machel Montano featuring Lil Jon and Pitbull.

Tumbling to number 15 is Love Is Wicked (Soca Remix) by Brick and Lace featuring Kess.

Up to number 16 is the baddest new track I have heard in ages, which is also this week's essential new tune: Jennifer Hudson's monster new hip-hop track Pocket Book. It's a banging track that is a duet with Ludacris. Get ready for it and buy the CD now.

Jumping to number 17 is Miss Independent by Ne-Yo. This song is another banger.

Improving to number 18 is Live Your Life by T.I. featuring hot girl Rihanna.

Slipping to number 19 is Heaven Sent by Keyshia Cole. It's a simply beautiful song.

Tumbling to number 20 is Put On by Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West.

Now back to this week's word: selfishness.

I had a rather intellectual dialogue with a good friend of mine earlier this week which provided the fuel for this week's fire. My boy caused me to admit that although we talk today about landlords charging inflated rents and employees wanting more money for less work; few people, present company included, have addressed the other interest groups who have created the conditions that exist today.

New landlords have to pay high mortgages due to the high cost of construction, the cost of real estate, bank fees, legal fees and all the other components of home ownership in Bermuda.

Boy, this topic could cover several columns and pages, but I will try to keep it as brief as possible. There are greedy landlords who no longer have a mortgage to pay but who will not rent to Bermudians and charge all they can.

Let's take a young couple who don't make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year - such as a construction worker and a secretary. If they have to pay the ridiculous rents of Bermuda's off-the-charts rental market, there is no way they will ever be able to afford to buy a home, whilst paying to rent accommodation.

Then there are the international businesses and local businesses who outbid Bermudians by paying more for rental dwellings for employees. Greed and selfishness are killing Bermuda. Its not just the landlords - there are culprits everywhere.

The point here is that there are highway robbers throughout the process.

However, it all comes back to greed and selfishness. Anybody who charges more than they know they have to charge, meaning more than a fair price for goods and/or services, is being greedy and selfish. An opportunist, yes, but greedy and selfish nonetheless. Some people try to call this capitalism and the free enterprise system, however, you can have a successful capitalist system and free enterprise without greed, selfishness and overcharging for goods and services.

This is one of the reasons many local residents are shopping when they travel. It's tough to buy in Bermuda when many businesses are overcharging. The mark-up on some things in Bermuda is crazy - 200 to 300 percent or more in some cases. Plain and simple: this is overcharging. I don't care what your operating expenses might be. As a result, the consumer, in many cases, will wait until they travel and purchase items at that time.

Granted, some businesses are sensible, competitive and charge prices that reveal no real cost savings to purchasing items abroad. Some TV, electronic and computer stores fall into this category, however, not so in many other businesses.

Price inflation is throughout Bermuda and it is unnecessary. The person that suffers most is the poor and lower-middle classes. Everything in Bermuda is overpriced, the economy is out of control.

Go to a hotel or restaurant here and you pay some $16 dollars for a burger and fries, when you can buy the same meal at McDonalds for $6 or maybe $9 at Dorothy's. A burger that is way better than that made by the chef at a hotel. How do these establishments justify the extra $10? Another example is the price for soda. A can or bottle might cost $1.25 from a soda machine but $3.50 if purchased at a restaurant or hotel. This happens in other countries as well, but again, I'm more concerned about Bermuda.

But let's get back to real estate and construction because I think that this is where the greatest gouging is taking place. I understand economics and the law of supply and demand as well as most average people of average intelligence. So I get the fact that we don't have much land left. But is it necessary to charge $500,000 for a third of an acre of land? Come on realtors, give a guy or a girl a break! And don't think contractors are getting off lightly here - I'm exposing them for the crooks that they are as well. So much so that this topic deserves its own paragraph.

Do they have to charge $250 or $300 per square foot for the cost of construction? I am convinced that many contractors quote prices on jobs that are extra high because they don't need the work.

Here is an example. A buddy of mine was doing a renovation to his home. He received three quotes. One was for $200,000; the second was for $300,000 and the third was for $525,000 - for the same job. How can this be? My theory is that many contractors set their prices on jobs very high and if you accept the high bid with the obviously very high mark-up, they will do your job next. So, the job with the highest profit margin gets done first and thus becomes the priority. I'm convinced that this is how contractors have become millionaires in this country. Sad, but I believe it is true.

The point is that if everybody was fair and charged a fair price for their goods, products and services, everybody would do better, things would cost less and everything would be more affordable. But somebody has to start that process of fair charging. For great things to happen, somebody has to stand up and do the right thing for no other reason than because it's the right thing to do. We must live our lives from the perspective that we must treat others as we would like for them to treat us.

If we all obeyed this golden rule, we would all fare better. The solution to this problem is getting people to embrace a culture of fairness, which doesn't exist today. Maybe I'm a dreamer but I believe that things can change. If we just lay down and accept things as they are, things will never change. Unless somebody points out to people the selfish, greedy errors of their ways, they will continue. Something has to be done otherwise our economy will implode. We are already seeing signs of a revolution by the working class, as was the case in Karl Marx's time, when he predicted a revolution of the proletariat (working class) against the bourgeoisie (upper class).

I see the industrial action by teachers, civil servants and other unions as the signs of a revolt of the working class here in Bermuda. We must control and pull the reigns in on this economy, or there will be a real revolution.

Echere (goodbye in Fanti - spoken in Ghana)