Greed man's greatest enemy

[blazeofglory]

Today, the world could be really a nicer and finer place to live in if there is no greed, and people do not engage in amassing huge sums of money, owning masses of land and heaping incalculable wealth.

I see all-round people engage in knocking down one another. The one and only asset man cherishes or values is money, money and only money over and above everything, and that is why man sets off for earning soaring amounts of wealth.

Now the global recession has to do with this abysmal desire for money. Capitalism has intensified our desires, our appetites. But today we know that big mansions of glory, is pulling down. And civilization is crumbling. Terrorism is not under control despite masses of arsenals destroyed, and America engages in setting a new old order. But there is no order.

There is so much injustice, crime, inhumanity everywhere.

The one and only cause is wealth.

[crystalmoonshin]

Greed and selfishness, actually.

From time immemorial, it has always been the SELF which is more important than anything else. It is natural for man to seek pleasure, but he does it at the expense of others. Unequal distribution of wealth results from capitalism. The oppressed and the poor suffers more and more while the rich gets even richer.

[coberst]

I think that a study of primitive societies revels that status was acquired within the society by doing things that were beneficial to that society. It is with the advance of modern economics that the amassing of private wealth became the means for social status. I suspect that greed was some part of our human genes but that capitalism has accentuated it to the point that it may very well mean the destruction of the species.

[country doctor]

man is run by two emotions greed and fear. the more you live the more you realize this to be the case. it's too bad. there hasn't been much movement for thousands of years.
the more you know, the more you suffer.

we're bipolar beings. it's that simple.

[NikolaiI]

man is run by two emotions greed and fear. the more you live the more you realize this to be the case. it's too bad. there hasn't been much movement for thousands of years.
the more you know, the more you suffer.

we're bipolar beings. it's that simple.

It's not that simple. Most people do not live by fear, however we can be caught up by it. Many live for love, many live for God, and some even live for the love of grammar. :)

[country doctor]

it is that simple. the more you live the more you'll understand that. people talk love, but it's not the strongest emotion. people make their decisions based on greed and fear. not love. of course this is based on the masses. there are individuals that try to live a more enlightened life, but they have never been able to dent the culture.

[NikolaiI]

There are some who say society doesn't exist, only individuals.

[pagebypage]

Greed is often misidentified as the motivating force for some people, blaze. Do you think men like George Soros are amassing a fortune just for the money? Money is power and many seek power. Do you think Hugh Hefner amassed money for it's own end? Much money allows a hedonistic lifestyle beyond normal comprehension. Do you think Warren Buffet and Ross Perot are ignorant of the fact that more money at their level is pointless? Some people are players and the money is how they keep score. Very few people amass fortune for its own end.

As for wealth being the root of all evil, that is analogous to the free will critics declaring freedom the cause of sin. Wealth is the basis of leisure and leisure is the basis of all that we have come to call as civilized. There may be abuses in its pursuit but that is just part of the human condition. Those societies without a means to generate wealth are mean, nasty, and brutish. Those societies that attempt to regulate wealth usually degenerate into something similar.

[qspeechc]

Not necessarily money, but yes, everything is about the self. I have no reason to believe it has ever been other than this. We are made to be entirely selfish, and it would be hopeless to wish we could ever not be selfish.
There has always been crime, injustice and inhumanity; that's nothing new. And I doubt that it is particularly bad now. You can look at any period of human history and see the attrocities committed by man against his fellow human. And that's life.

[country doctor]

the world capitalist system's foundation is based on greed and fear between the haves and have nots. granted, it's a cronie capitalism system where the wealthy socialize their losses when they get too big, but it's still capitalism.
when the world someday moves to a more equitable, humanistic economic system is the time that i'll start to believe that the two strongest base emotions of man have been tamed. until that time, understand that the world moves on the energy of greed and hits the brakes in times of fear.
if you still have doubts, take a hard look at how you make your decisions when you are 'out there in the world'.

[Ohmyscience]

There will still be greed in any system because having more means you stand out amonst a crowd. This entails also having the most attention and best possible spouse. Let me just ask everyone would they rather make the same money as their close friends or a little bit more? If your friend had a much more desirable spouse(not just looks) would you not envy them?

[crystalmoonshin]

There will still be greed in any system because having more means you stand out amonst a crowd. This entails also having the most attention and best possible spouse. Let me just ask everyone would they rather make the same money as their close friends or a little bit more? If your friend had a much more desirable spouse(not just looks) would you not envy them?

You're right. To stand out in a crowd might be one of the reasons why greed exists. People are vain, they like to be praised, to be adored and to be looked up to.

as for your questions, well, any work will do for me, as long as I'm happy with it and as long as I can support myself with the money I earn from honest work. I really don't care much if I rake in less money than others. I mean, nothing compares to the joy work brings to a person.

If a friend had a "more desirable spouse", good for her. Suppose I were a married woman, I wouldn't even compare my husband with anyone's.

[grotto]

There is no way around greed, the idea that somehow if greed were eliminated all of the problems in the world would end is it self is a greedy idea, your idea as if you knew all the answers as to what it is that is correct. If there wasn’t greed, I would be comfortable in this world. That is greedy.

Greed stems from a need for security which stems from fear. The root of every thing seems to come from fear and that is a primal survival response. I need to eat, if I have a little more, I won’t have to work so hard to eat, if I can keep what I have and still get more, I can eat better. Then we start fearing what it is that we have amassed will be taken and we get scared again and so the cycle continues, fear, security and greed.

Just my opinion.

[robertlc53]

even ancient societies, devoid of monetary bartering, exchanged gifts and favors. it was done either to gain social clout as a beneficent person, or to invest in future reciprocation at the expense of the recipient.

those who admit we are animals fighting to survive in a world where power (in any of its infinite forms) is a vessel to acquire things deemed necessary to an individual are not drowning in self-deception.

those who believe that they are exalted above others for the things they do for others in my opinion are blind to the self-gratifying effects of helping others (self-worth wearing the mask of benevolence). true selfless people are out there, but are you really telling me that when it comes down to it, they aren't selfish when they need to be? selfish is not always bad is my point.

[grotto]

Fear is mans greatest enemy.