Greed

Oh, let's discuss greed for a bit, shall we? We can do envy later, for that is a topic I would like to explore. We can do the whole lot later if it seems interesting. If it means anything.

What is greed, first of all, and the need to own? The empty self is at odds with itself. It doesn't really need things, it doesn't need much money to live, but it is the self, and selfish.

I'd propose that greed is like a cat. It lingers near the door. It makes noise. Unsatisfied in itself, it howls, not knowing the useless noise it makes.

Thoughts?

Greed is the difference between Diogenes and Alexander the Great.

Greed eh?

Greed is a tough one for me. I have an intense desire to make money. Its not an ideal, its a drive. I think sometimes our drives clash with our ideals. If I were to go make money by, say, mugging someone, then my drive would be conflicting with my ideal, the ideal there being the fact that I am against violence and thievery.

Greed is bad when it clashes with our positive ideals. What are our ideals, which of them positive?...... That's a tough thing to figure out.

What I'd like to say is that ideals are foolish, but I have them too.

Those are tricky. Are they deep rooted? I suppose. I think ideals were set upon us, like sad clouds, and here to give us tears.

That's a new topic. Ideals. I cannot do that now.

We've done the whole greed as applied to money but it hits closer to home if we think about greed as it pertains to the liberal arts, aren't songwriters, writers, actors greedy for fame? Is that considered greed as well?

The desire to purchase unessential items is based on a guilty pleasure sensation I think. You know that in the future you'll look on the item and feel you've wasted your money, but in the immediate future the thrill of the purchase will fade fast anyway.

And suffering from the guilt emotion, there's a mix of shame about the object - thus making a person unlikely to consciously acknowledge that it may be worth money to someone else, and if it is then they'll only sell if they can maximize the profit.

It's kind of linked to gambling. There's a receptor in the brain that responds to risk taking, which is why so many problem gamblers are poverty struck. They're addicted to the chemical buzz they get, not the winnings.

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Originally Posted by jajdude

What I'd like to say is that ideals are foolish, but I have them too.

Those are tricky. Are they deep rooted? I suppose. I think ideals were set upon us, like sad clouds, and here to give us tears.

That's a new topic. Ideals. I cannot do that now.

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"Life is like a star that feeds on the combustion of ideals. If you estinguish the ideals, you are left inert, just a putrid piece of human flesh." J. E. Rodo

I'm not very greedy in terms of stuff. I don't need useless crap to drag around, that's just cumbersome. Money = freedom, but if you never stop driving to make money even once you have enough you're just replacing one set of shackles for another, this intangible symbol of hours worked becomes your whole meaning for existance which is just sad. I'm settled to know how much money I need to live, beyond that I try not to let anxiety over financial security motivate me (although sometimes stupid family needs your money, thereby screwing you and setting you back to square one, mumblemumblebitter).

But yeah, greed. I don't have anything that I want enough to be greedy for it.

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Originally Posted by papayahed

We've done the whole greed as applied to money

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What? Who has done that? That cannot be done. The argument never ends.

Greed is a common thing, and money is a want, but the subject of greed has no end.

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Originally Posted by JuniperWoolf

I'm not very greedy in terms of stuff. I don't need useless crap to drag around, that's just cumbersome. Money = freedom, but if you never stop driving to make money even once you have enough you're just replacing one set of shackles for another, this intangible symbol of hours worked becomes your whole meaning for existance which is just sad. I'm settled to know how much money I need to live, beyond that I try not to let anxiety over financial security motivate me (although sometimes stupid family needs your money, thereby screwing you and setting you back to square one, mumblemumblebitter).

But yeah, greed. I don't have anything that I want enough to be greedy for it.

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Well said.

I think it's much more realistic to aim for, at least, comfort and to live a balanced life.

Haha, well, financially balanced at least.

This is a good one. I get greedy when it comes to sharing my son. I struggle to not get jealous, because he is so free spirited and I don't want to share. I generally get greedy when it comes to sharing the ones I love. I hate sharing my best friend when we are visiting together. I want her full attention. I hate sharing my husband with his mother (surprise, surprise). Most of all, I hate sharing my younger sister with her boyfriend. Greed this way is very difficult on close relationships, because it a way of smothering people. It's oppressive and furthermore, burdensome.

Well, greed would be what the devil is, he wanted what God was. The definition of greed is close to lust, coveting, that's basiclly what I think it. A part of the evil realm we live in. It all ties in together with the other destroyers of the soul.