Greed Knows No Limits

Dr. Rajesh Bhola
India
Apr 05, 2013

 
Delusion of a best status, a desire for accumulation, and sheer greed, are what motivate many today.

Greed, running out of control, is a fundamental cause of our world’s woes - economic and otherwise. We are suffering because some have become too greedy. Greed seems to have no limit or shame. The desire for money may be an indication of greed, but greed is a much more subtle vice than simply the desire to be rich. Paradoxically, greed seems to become a particularly prominent challenge in economies of plenty. It seems that the more wealth one has, even more is needed to sustain it. For the rich there is never “enough.” Unfortunately, greed has also misappropriated the treasures that nature provided to us – our personal, social and earthly treasures. Children today starve due to malnutrition, when an equitable sharing of resources would allow everyone to eat well. People die of treatable illnesses, in a world rich with medicine. 

Greed is also listed as one of the seven sins. In almost all the religions, the vices in the traditional catalogue of sins are often associated with various body parts – lying, with the tongue; lust, with the genitals; gluttony, with the throat; pride, with the chest; conceit, with the turned head; and avarice, with the arms and legs. The person possessed by avarice reaches for and grasps the goods of another. 

For some capitalists, greed has become a necessary engine to sustain economic growth. We are ‘obligated’ to want more, so that we will not put someone out of a job. The virtue of greed found it’s most original and persuasive form in Bernard Mandeville’s, The Fable of the Bees:

“Vast Number thronged the fruitful Hive / Yet those vast Numbers made them thrive / Million endeavouring to supply / Each other’s Lust and Vanity / Thus every Part was full of Vice, / Yet the whole Mass a Paradise.”

In this scenario we are not able to imbibe good virtues; we become self-absorbed, seeking in external goods a satisfaction for our inner emptiness. We complain of the increased tempo of our life, but that is a mere reflection of the economic system we have created. We tolerate the world shaped by our avarice, because that world in return temptingly and cunningly makes us believe that there are no alternatives to a world so constituted.  

The great souls are those who are able to focus on being, rather than having; and on the quality of a moment by moment living, rather than on the quantity of physical accumulation. But when does the desire to simply possess something turn into unchecked greed? It is when the things that we possess start possessing us. Greed will always leave us dissatisfied because we’ll never be able to get everything we desire. Greed, like the love of comfort, is a kind of fear. Greed is a bottomless pit, which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy his need – without ever finding satisfaction.

The New Testament aptly tells us about greed. Jesus says, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.” Jesus goes on to recount a parable about a rich man who cultivated a huge harvest – much too big to fit into his barn. What does he do with his wealth? Sharing it does not cross his mind. Instead, he decides to build a bigger barn, planning to “eat, drink and be merry” the rest of his life. Jesus calls the man a fool for stockpiling treasures, but not being rich towards others. Later, he sums up the parable: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be.” 

Greed is limitless; we are saturated in it. Individually and collectively. We are the rich man in the parable, building our barns at the expense of our planet and her people. At the same time, we are afraid of losing what we have. The more fearful we become, the more we stockpile. We can never acquire enough. The more we acquire the less valuable the rest of our acquisitions become to us. However, we cannot take any of our acquisitions to our grave.  The ancient Egyptians tried to send their Pharaohs off with loads of gold and goodies. But does anybody ever lie on the deathbed wishing he had more possessions?

We never say to ourselves that, “No. I have plenty of ‘barns’; in fact, it is high time I crack open a few”. Let us do that, and enjoy what we have.  

Source: http://www.fridaygurgaon.com/news/3148-Greed-Knows-No-Limits.html