Greed
Is It Necessarily A Bad Thing?

The word Greed conjures up a lot of images for most people, fat cats with money, ruthless business men and evil corporations, just to mention the obvious, but is this an unfair generalization and perhaps being a little (or a lot) greedy actually be a good thing.

The Start Of It All

The basic roots of civilization lay in social communities where sharing the wares of production was the common method, but as societies developed, a better way was discovered - Self controlled economics.

We started to realize that if we worked harder than others or were more productive, then we deserved a bigger slice of the proverbial pie, so we disbanded the old system and entered a new stage of individual reliance and wealth accumulation.

Greediness , you can say WAS in fact the motivating factor for the new individual based system of economics and it's clear that we must have not only needed more, we wanted more and that can't have been a bad thing.

Yes Please

As mankind became more productive and the promise of a comfortable lifestyle seemed heaven sent, a greedy and self serving trait started to emerge and the question of "Do We Want More" was answered....."Yes Please".

To create a more comfortable life for ourselves and our families we needed an evolutionary push, a nudge that kept the survival of the species more than just a priority - An inevitability.

We worked and toiled, but a funny thing happened - Not everyone got the same degree of wealth. While some folks worked 70+ hour weeks, others simply managed the efforts and milked what appeared to be an obscene amount of wealth from the efforts of others.

Shock, Horror And Jealousy

The hard working people started to wonder why rich folks seemed to work less and have more, all the while they conversely worked more and had less. Fiscal jealousy was born.

A few smart individuals learned the nuances of trade and took financial risks, by putting their hard earned wealth on the line they decided to risk it all (or at least a lot of it) to gain even more money and control. Whilst many of those who risked their savings grew rich or at least more comfortable, shot to prominence, others who failed and lost it all, where lesser known. Greediness created some winners and some losers.

Those who didn't have money to risk, took the attitude that those with wealth were greedy and their financial accumulation was immoral, at the same time they would have swapped places in a fraction of a second if they could. Hypocrisy was the order of the day and to a degree..Still is.

Jealousy based irrationalities proceeded to only get worse.

Poverty Vs Wealth

The biggest question posed for those with tremendous wealth has always been - "How Can Someone Just sit There With All That Money While There Is So Much Poverty In The World and the emotional debate begins.

Those in the middle and lower class usually have enough jealousy to match or surpass the levels of greediness in their wealthier contemporaries, this leads them to believe they have a moral imperative to share their wealth, no matter how hard they have worked for it.

Don't get me wrong - Man's responsibility to his own kind is a debate that hasn't being universally ended, but I've never considered telling others what to do a particularly moral thing to do in itself.

The truth is you can't throw money at problems, you have to have a solution that works.

Wealthy people can and do help many others and it is unfair to state those with wealth are selfish, many of them simply would not have achieved the financial successes that they have accomplished without a certain amount of greediness, in other words if they gave every thing they had away from the start they wouldn't have the level of fiscal comfortability that they have and the power that enables them to help others, if they choose to do so.

Being Greedy Is Good.....Well Maybe

The fact of the matter is being greedy has created employment, innovation and raised standards of living for almost everyone. driving forces that tell us to push on and achieve personal glory and financial betterment can not be labeled completely negative.

If you feel conflicted about wanting to increase the standard of living for you and your family then don't. It's your happiness and if financial security and a better life will make you happy then get greedy, after all anyone who thinks you don't deserve it , doesn't have your best interests at heart.

Yes, many people have done unsavory things in an effort to bolster their own lives, but the acts of a criminal mind can't be compared to that of an ambitious athlete, or a hard working parent. Being Greedy is good....If the outcome is good.

It's important to distinguish being greedy from blatant selfishness, being greedy on a personal level to motivate and propensiate you towards goals is a good thing, but typical selfishness can cause social ostracism because outwardly selfish actions are akin to social ineptitude.

Wanting more and acting selfishly are two very different things, but I'm sure you know the difference.




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