Greed & selfishness are, undoubtedly, a form of violence--not only against Humanity, but also against Nature, our Home Earth and our companion residents & species.
A very good article Perry. I'm glad you pointed out how the lack of self love can initiate the voracious appetite of greed, as I believe this is crucially if not wholly responsible for the development of greed as a pathology within ourselves as individuals.
As children, if we are loved and learn to love ourselves and others, we begin our journey through life without pathology. But if we learn not to trust our guardians and by reflection, they teach us not to trust and love ourselves, the adaptation of greed will attempt to fill this unfillable void. It shows us that one positive response to greed within ourselves is unconditional self love, and in turn, unconditional love of others.
In today's society there is great difficulty accepting the concept of self love, as we have been taught this is selfish and wrong. Society teaches us not to be selfish or self centered, but they skip over the chapter on self love. Until we can love and heal ourselves, and it is possible to self love and self heal, we cannot fully love anyone else. Without self love we will always be a slave to our unrelenting desires. Love and cooperation are at the beating heart of our natural state of being, our sense of self love and our sense of community. If self love is weakened or missing, we can never be satiated by any other means.
I think greed, like racism, is a learned social behaviour, whether it be conscious or unconscious. In the song '7 Seconds' by Youssou N'dour and Neneh Cherry, co-written by Cameron McVey and Jonathan Sharp, they sing; "And when a child is born into this world, it has no concept, of the tone of skin it's living in, and there's a million voices, to tell you what you should be thinking, so you better sober up."**
We can't change others, but we can change ourselves, so healing ourselves from self loathing and greed is something we can manage. Societal change starts from within.
I agree, John. You brought up excellent points, adding to my article. The most important being, I think, if we can't love ourselves in a normal and healthy way, we can't love others. If we do love ourselves in a healthy way, we will view money as precisely the instrument of commerce it is, and not give it any more power than it deserves.
Another pathology that seems prevalent in modern society is our obsession with celebrity. Interesting how most people who have it, largely think it's overrated, although some turn it to their own advantage. I myself, prefer to treat famous people as no different from anyone else, although clearly they ar not, given their exalted status in today's society. I think celebrity adds to the malaise of modern living. I suspect it has the same foundations as greed and racism, forces which divide us. We use celebrity to tell ourselves we are not enough. That just being our natural selves is not enough. This ability to think about ourselves and compare ourselves to others does us no favours, and removes us from the natural world which now seems like a paradise lost.
Greed is a primal drive that courses through our veins, fueled by our innate desires for self-preservation and reproduction. Yet, it is also molded and twisted by the cruel hands of society. To truly comprehend the impact of greed on human civilization, we must delve into its origins.
Greed can be defined as an insatiable craving for resources, especially material possessions such as money, property, and other symbols of wealth. However, this definition begs the question: what makes something unreasonable? How do we measure "wealth" in terms of human psychology?
To put it simply, greed becomes dangerous when it consumes us entirely. Like a poison seeping into our systems, excessive behaviors lead to devastating consequences. We become slaves to our desires - excessive drinking leads to crippling addictions, excessive eating leads to obesity and health issues, and excessive materialism leads to a hollow existence void of meaningful connections. These are all destructive outcomes that plague our society.
Someone said poverty exists because the wealthy are never satisfied. They are not satisfied because they are greedy. They are greedy, as Erich Fromm points out, because they do not love themselves, often a result of a lack of parental love when growing up.
So money becomes a substitute, but a poor one. The lives of the wealthy are actually sad and lonely. And terribly unhealthy in so many ways.
Fromm's perspective was not an isolated one. He drew deep inspiration from influential sociologists such as David Reisman and Richard Hofstadter and renowned anthropologist Margaret Meade, all of whom were vocal about the dangerous decline of individualism and democracy at the hands of mass society and insidious corporate capitalism.
Even though their insights were written 70 years ago, they still hold a haunting relevance in today's world and demand urgent examination.
As we grapple with the overwhelming grip of corporate dominance and materialistic values that mercilessly chip away at our moral integrity, these intellectuals from the past offer invaluable perspectives on reviving democracy and championing humanistic principles.
Excellent essay, Perry. I really like how you have One Tin Soldier at the end. It’s a lyrical conclusion that makes your insights even more telling. The message in the song, the process of discovery, of peace on earth is really resonant. When I was growing up, learning to play piano, I loved the playing the song and the message was the best part of it.
Thank you, Heidi. I can remember the song's effect on me; I think I was in Grade 6 when the teacher put it on the record player. That you learned to play it on piano is amazing.
Thanks, Perry, for a well thought out and written piece. I am a retired physician/psychiatrist/addictionist and avid student of the paleolithic period of human evolution. The advent of greed and materialism came when our ancestors gave-up the Hunter-Gatherer/pastoralist lifeways you touched upon and developed the first Capital in the storable food surpluses that accrues from sedentary agriculture. This "capital" gave rise to numbers, language, accounting, and all the evils we face in our massively overpopulated and natural resource depleting mega-cities. The rarely told story is laid out in brilliant detail by the late archaeologist/author, Denise Schmandt-Besserat in her "Before Writing. vol1". The fewer than 150 (Dunbar number) members of a migratory H-G clan could not afford to lose a single member, as they were posed against a vast array of predators and environmental problems. Cooperation and mutual support were key to everyone's survival. Our ancestors lived in and we evolved from those clan/band lifeways, but have lost our way in the massively overpopulated and highly competitive world of today.
Thank you for that reference. I will look her up, Denise Schmandt-Besserat in "Before Writing," Vol 1. Yes, the transition to farming and land ownership, 10-12,000 years ago, led the way to competition, acquisition and land ownership. And, equally important, our alienation from the natural world.
Thanks for the reply. Schmandt-Besserat should have received a Nobel Prize. She established the first definition of "capital", a surplus of trade goods for which symbolic items may be traded.
You're right that Adam Smith has been taken way out of context, as in the 1980s was Friedrich Hayek - both used to justify next-level neo-liberal Capitalism of competition over co-operation; hence the world we have today. "The System" has a way of picking out certain people who seem to be saying what they want and then they are generously funded and promoted; these people are then elevated in the media, get Nobel prizes as 'leading lights' on their subject, and all other voices are squashed.
The current disparity between rich and poor has gobe stratospheric - it's not sustainable. It might morph for a time into some kind of global dictatorship of obey or starve (already we can see this) but in the end, like all massive centralised systems, it has to collapse. Trouble is, much misery is, and will be, caused.
Resource acquisition is hardwired into every sessile species on earth and even a lot of the nonmotile. But when is enough, enough? That varies from species to species. Most larger species must forage constantly as the natural landscape lacks the food resources for them to eat to satiety much less overeat. But some species if supplied with abundant resources can literally eat themselves to death- the classic example is aquarium fish. Some humans have a pathology where enough is never enough. It's definitely a glitch, and we should be glad we all dont have it as it would lead to a more violent, less cooperative world, divided into big winners and sore losers. A state of affairs dismayingly proximate to the one we already suffer from.
The problem as I see it, Michael, is that we have a few thousand persons on Earth who have acquired so much wealth, land and resources, way beyond what they require for a lifetime. Or even ten lifetimes. This is not natural, not good and not healthy. Its effects are far-reaching for not only our species, but for all other species with with whom we share our wonderful planet.
Excellent thoughts in this post, Perry. And I love the Steinbeck quote.
Greed, in my understanding, is an addiction. The noun is a back formation of the adjective 'greedy' with the original meaning 'voracious, hungry'.
If, as you suggest, humans (and possibly non-humans) are not fed appropriately at the emotional level in early development, they become hungry, and even voracious, at the material level later in life (Trump and Musk etc. are prime examples)
I can imagine this to happen to animals too (as one commentator suggested), when taken out of their natural habitats. 'Selfishness', in this case is pure survival instinct.
Thank you, Veronika for the word origins: very important. Greedy is to have a voracious insatiable appetite. It can't be satisfied.
Yes, I do believe the early years of child development can have a profound and long-lasting influence on tbe development of a greedy persona. Unless this individual seeks healing,
I think the primary problem, which you have tangetially touched upon, is developmental. But what is the necessary ingredient for developing intense greed? It is abundance, caused by technology. If we needed each other more and had to cooperate out of necessity, then there would be far less greed. Technology allows us to extract far beyond what we need.
If you look at birds, they behave normally within their own social evolution of course. But once they are supplied with an easy surplus, they go crazy and become extra aggressive, and even exhibit greediness.
The truth is, we cannot handle surplus. The Amish recognize this and place restrictions on unnecessary accumulation. They even restrict the speed of their horse and buggiest.
Technology gives us surplus and that is why it is intensely destructive. We will not learn to curb our greed unless we also implement cultural and societal rules to curb our surplus as well, and severely restrict out technological development.
In my years of feeding non-human animals, I have never seen birds or squirrels or any of the furry or feathered beings I feed “go crazy” or act violently when there is food surplus. I have only seen cooperation. I would add that a shortage of food is often the catalyst for violence and all kinds of social ills, and such applies to all species.
Well, I have seen hundreds of species, and some indeed become aggressive when fed too much. Yes, some don't, but others act more so, such as some parrots I recently saw at a feeder -- and to be honest, Black-capped Chickadees can become quite aggressive when fed too much as well. Parrots sometimes fly directly at feeding stations in Australia, too, and I've seen that.
In some species, resource scarceness gives rise to naturally more aggressive behaviour. There's nothing wrong with it and it has nothing to do with malice, but when artificial surplus is introduced it can magnify this aggressiveness. Of course, birds do not have the cognitive pathways to become malicious like us, but the point is, surplus is the starting medium to allow the growth of behaviour modifications which, IN species like us, will become manifestations of greed and malice. I think you probably just haven't seen enough species of animals to observe this sort of behaviour.
My only point was that behaviour will be modified given a surplus and it's better if we don't have it.
A very good article Perry. I'm glad you pointed out how the lack of self love can initiate the voracious appetite of greed, as I believe this is crucially if not wholly responsible for the development of greed as a pathology within ourselves as individuals.
As children, if we are loved and learn to love ourselves and others, we begin our journey through life without pathology. But if we learn not to trust our guardians and by reflection, they teach us not to trust and love ourselves, the adaptation of greed will attempt to fill this unfillable void. It shows us that one positive response to greed within ourselves is unconditional self love, and in turn, unconditional love of others.
In today's society there is great difficulty accepting the concept of self love, as we have been taught this is selfish and wrong. Society teaches us not to be selfish or self centered, but they skip over the chapter on self love. Until we can love and heal ourselves, and it is possible to self love and self heal, we cannot fully love anyone else. Without self love we will always be a slave to our unrelenting desires. Love and cooperation are at the beating heart of our natural state of being, our sense of self love and our sense of community. If self love is weakened or missing, we can never be satiated by any other means.
I think greed, like racism, is a learned social behaviour, whether it be conscious or unconscious. In the song '7 Seconds' by Youssou N'dour and Neneh Cherry, co-written by Cameron McVey and Jonathan Sharp, they sing; "And when a child is born into this world, it has no concept, of the tone of skin it's living in, and there's a million voices, to tell you what you should be thinking, so you better sober up."**
We can't change others, but we can change ourselves, so healing ourselves from self loathing and greed is something we can manage. Societal change starts from within.
**Pronouns changed for clarity.
I agree, John. You brought up excellent points, adding to my article. The most important being, I think, if we can't love ourselves in a normal and healthy way, we can't love others. If we do love ourselves in a healthy way, we will view money as precisely the instrument of commerce it is, and not give it any more power than it deserves.
Another pathology that seems prevalent in modern society is our obsession with celebrity. Interesting how most people who have it, largely think it's overrated, although some turn it to their own advantage. I myself, prefer to treat famous people as no different from anyone else, although clearly they ar not, given their exalted status in today's society. I think celebrity adds to the malaise of modern living. I suspect it has the same foundations as greed and racism, forces which divide us. We use celebrity to tell ourselves we are not enough. That just being our natural selves is not enough. This ability to think about ourselves and compare ourselves to others does us no favours, and removes us from the natural world which now seems like a paradise lost.
I agree
Greed is a primal drive that courses through our veins, fueled by our innate desires for self-preservation and reproduction. Yet, it is also molded and twisted by the cruel hands of society. To truly comprehend the impact of greed on human civilization, we must delve into its origins.
Greed can be defined as an insatiable craving for resources, especially material possessions such as money, property, and other symbols of wealth. However, this definition begs the question: what makes something unreasonable? How do we measure "wealth" in terms of human psychology?
To put it simply, greed becomes dangerous when it consumes us entirely. Like a poison seeping into our systems, excessive behaviors lead to devastating consequences. We become slaves to our desires - excessive drinking leads to crippling addictions, excessive eating leads to obesity and health issues, and excessive materialism leads to a hollow existence void of meaningful connections. These are all destructive outcomes that plague our society.
Someone said poverty exists because the wealthy are never satisfied. They are not satisfied because they are greedy. They are greedy, as Erich Fromm points out, because they do not love themselves, often a result of a lack of parental love when growing up.
So money becomes a substitute, but a poor one. The lives of the wealthy are actually sad and lonely. And terribly unhealthy in so many ways.
Fromm's perspective was not an isolated one. He drew deep inspiration from influential sociologists such as David Reisman and Richard Hofstadter and renowned anthropologist Margaret Meade, all of whom were vocal about the dangerous decline of individualism and democracy at the hands of mass society and insidious corporate capitalism.
Even though their insights were written 70 years ago, they still hold a haunting relevance in today's world and demand urgent examination.
As we grapple with the overwhelming grip of corporate dominance and materialistic values that mercilessly chip away at our moral integrity, these intellectuals from the past offer invaluable perspectives on reviving democracy and championing humanistic principles.
Excellent essay, Perry. I really like how you have One Tin Soldier at the end. It’s a lyrical conclusion that makes your insights even more telling. The message in the song, the process of discovery, of peace on earth is really resonant. When I was growing up, learning to play piano, I loved the playing the song and the message was the best part of it.
Thank you, Heidi. I can remember the song's effect on me; I think I was in Grade 6 when the teacher put it on the record player. That you learned to play it on piano is amazing.
It was my favorite song
Thanks, Perry, for a well thought out and written piece. I am a retired physician/psychiatrist/addictionist and avid student of the paleolithic period of human evolution. The advent of greed and materialism came when our ancestors gave-up the Hunter-Gatherer/pastoralist lifeways you touched upon and developed the first Capital in the storable food surpluses that accrues from sedentary agriculture. This "capital" gave rise to numbers, language, accounting, and all the evils we face in our massively overpopulated and natural resource depleting mega-cities. The rarely told story is laid out in brilliant detail by the late archaeologist/author, Denise Schmandt-Besserat in her "Before Writing. vol1". The fewer than 150 (Dunbar number) members of a migratory H-G clan could not afford to lose a single member, as they were posed against a vast array of predators and environmental problems. Cooperation and mutual support were key to everyone's survival. Our ancestors lived in and we evolved from those clan/band lifeways, but have lost our way in the massively overpopulated and highly competitive world of today.
Thank you for that reference. I will look her up, Denise Schmandt-Besserat in "Before Writing," Vol 1. Yes, the transition to farming and land ownership, 10-12,000 years ago, led the way to competition, acquisition and land ownership. And, equally important, our alienation from the natural world.
Thanks for the reply. Schmandt-Besserat should have received a Nobel Prize. She established the first definition of "capital", a surplus of trade goods for which symbolic items may be traded.
You're right that Adam Smith has been taken way out of context, as in the 1980s was Friedrich Hayek - both used to justify next-level neo-liberal Capitalism of competition over co-operation; hence the world we have today. "The System" has a way of picking out certain people who seem to be saying what they want and then they are generously funded and promoted; these people are then elevated in the media, get Nobel prizes as 'leading lights' on their subject, and all other voices are squashed.
The current disparity between rich and poor has gobe stratospheric - it's not sustainable. It might morph for a time into some kind of global dictatorship of obey or starve (already we can see this) but in the end, like all massive centralised systems, it has to collapse. Trouble is, much misery is, and will be, caused.
I concur; it will eventually collapse, but it will bring about much misery along the way.
Resource acquisition is hardwired into every sessile species on earth and even a lot of the nonmotile. But when is enough, enough? That varies from species to species. Most larger species must forage constantly as the natural landscape lacks the food resources for them to eat to satiety much less overeat. But some species if supplied with abundant resources can literally eat themselves to death- the classic example is aquarium fish. Some humans have a pathology where enough is never enough. It's definitely a glitch, and we should be glad we all dont have it as it would lead to a more violent, less cooperative world, divided into big winners and sore losers. A state of affairs dismayingly proximate to the one we already suffer from.
The problem as I see it, Michael, is that we have a few thousand persons on Earth who have acquired so much wealth, land and resources, way beyond what they require for a lifetime. Or even ten lifetimes. This is not natural, not good and not healthy. Its effects are far-reaching for not only our species, but for all other species with with whom we share our wonderful planet.
Excellent thoughts in this post, Perry. And I love the Steinbeck quote.
Greed, in my understanding, is an addiction. The noun is a back formation of the adjective 'greedy' with the original meaning 'voracious, hungry'.
If, as you suggest, humans (and possibly non-humans) are not fed appropriately at the emotional level in early development, they become hungry, and even voracious, at the material level later in life (Trump and Musk etc. are prime examples)
I can imagine this to happen to animals too (as one commentator suggested), when taken out of their natural habitats. 'Selfishness', in this case is pure survival instinct.
Thank you, Veronika for the word origins: very important. Greedy is to have a voracious insatiable appetite. It can't be satisfied.
Yes, I do believe the early years of child development can have a profound and long-lasting influence on tbe development of a greedy persona. Unless this individual seeks healing,
So much truth to that John Steinbeck quote Perry.
Yes; and Steinbeck is one of my favourite writers; he writes with a keen eye for human behaviour.
I think the primary problem, which you have tangetially touched upon, is developmental. But what is the necessary ingredient for developing intense greed? It is abundance, caused by technology. If we needed each other more and had to cooperate out of necessity, then there would be far less greed. Technology allows us to extract far beyond what we need.
If you look at birds, they behave normally within their own social evolution of course. But once they are supplied with an easy surplus, they go crazy and become extra aggressive, and even exhibit greediness.
The truth is, we cannot handle surplus. The Amish recognize this and place restrictions on unnecessary accumulation. They even restrict the speed of their horse and buggiest.
Technology gives us surplus and that is why it is intensely destructive. We will not learn to curb our greed unless we also implement cultural and societal rules to curb our surplus as well, and severely restrict out technological development.
In my years of feeding non-human animals, I have never seen birds or squirrels or any of the furry or feathered beings I feed “go crazy” or act violently when there is food surplus. I have only seen cooperation. I would add that a shortage of food is often the catalyst for violence and all kinds of social ills, and such applies to all species.
Well, I have seen hundreds of species, and some indeed become aggressive when fed too much. Yes, some don't, but others act more so, such as some parrots I recently saw at a feeder -- and to be honest, Black-capped Chickadees can become quite aggressive when fed too much as well. Parrots sometimes fly directly at feeding stations in Australia, too, and I've seen that.
In some species, resource scarceness gives rise to naturally more aggressive behaviour. There's nothing wrong with it and it has nothing to do with malice, but when artificial surplus is introduced it can magnify this aggressiveness. Of course, birds do not have the cognitive pathways to become malicious like us, but the point is, surplus is the starting medium to allow the growth of behaviour modifications which, IN species like us, will become manifestations of greed and malice. I think you probably just haven't seen enough species of animals to observe this sort of behaviour.
My only point was that behaviour will be modified given a surplus and it's better if we don't have it.