Greed & selfishness are, undoubtedly, a form of violence--not only against Humanity, but also against Nature, our Home Earth and our companion residents & species.
So much to appreciate here. Thank you for the quote from Adam Smith. And of course I applaud the inclusion of Fromm's counter-intuitive yet profound insight that the selfish and narcissistic person is the opposite of a self-loving being. Grasping this insight enables us not only to navigate the social problems of our day but also our interpersonal relationships. Some of the people hurting most in our world appear to be "full of themselves" when they are actually experiencing a void of self and meaning. And this of course relates to your larger point. That greed and acquisition fail to quench the thirst for life. Instead they leave us further depleted like a city dweller stranded on an island proudly drinking sea water, convinced that he possesses all the water he needs to stay properly hydrated.
I couldn’t agree more, Perry. Unfortunately, such events program neurobiology (and therefore, behaviour) and are trans generational. I hope we can break the cycle soon. We all have a part to play.
This is a good question that requires examination and discussion. I do not have the answer, but I sense that part of the answer is childhood trauma of some sort, often from emotionally or physically abusive parents.
Where such people grew up in a home with a lack of acceptance, validation and love. The film, Citizen Kane, touches on this theme. So, instead of developing the inner self (intrinsic values), which takes a thought life, evaluation and hard work, they focus all of their energies on extrinsic values. This is far easier to do.
In other words, on material goods. It is never satisfying, because all individuals require self-love, and in the case of the abused individual, inner healing. I would also add that all of us also requires harmony with the greater natural world.
Such are my thoughts. I am sure others with more expertise can add to them. And improve them.
Thank you for this excellent essay, Perry. Featuring Charlie Chaplin’s movie is also deeply resonant. One of the great movies of all time and a profound response to fascism. I’m always heartened by your emphasis on consuming less as a way for each individual to counteract pervasive human greed.
Great essay Perry. Many good responses. To add, the absolute disrespect of not only nature or finding true inspiration through God'd greatest gifts to us, also imagining generations born into this unnatural greed, which is normally a tremendous shift, until it shifts back via the tipping scale (something has to give) which we have seen throughout history - my greatest concerns remaining on the condition of those we look away from, as idols of influence increase as the only people to watch., i.e., our homeless, drug addicted, poor, and especially our elderly (lost in digital and automated evil - which will also continue to get worse and oust them from society). For me it's all Biblical. Matthew 6:24
I was writing a short Sunday amen before I saw this ✨✨ No coincidence.
In terms of "looking away," this at least acknowledges the person in front of you and your discomfort of witnessing such misery shows that one's conscience is working, perhaps at minimal level, but nonetheless working. Far worse is the person who looks straight at the person suffering and either says or thinks that such a person deserves such a fate. Such a person's conscience is seared.
Great post, and film, and quotes, Perry. Definitely spot on and is really engaging to read. I was aware that self-love and selfishness were different (and you can't love others if you can't love yourself) but had not come across the quote from Erich Fromm who articulates the difference so well; so thank you for that.
"Greed is good" -- from the 1987 film "Wall Street" - which marked part of a seed-change in morality. I think it's beginning to crumble; it's got so extreme now, people are beginning to see (through) it. Bit I agree, it will get worse before it crashes.
Solace and sanity then to be found in the film about the forest and birds - so colourful too. I've watched the first 10 mnutes and will come back to it.
I agree with you, Perry. The original meaning of the word 'consume' is 'to destroy, annihilate'. A 'consumer' in 15 c. was a person who 'squanders and wastes' or who 'destroys the exchangeable value of a commodity by using it'.
People must instinctively know that and inadvertently stay true to the original sense.
I have often thought that there shouldn't just be a 'minimum wage' but also a 'maximum income' or possession in terms of capital and land ownership. That individuals can own more than some countries as a whole is obscene and throws the whole human society out of balance.
Thank you, Veronika, for your response, and especially for discussing the original meaning of consume/consumer. I had forgotten. There were expressions used when I was younger, such as “consumed by guilt” or “consumed by greed.” it might be time to make these phrases popular once again.
yes. Absolutely. Great examples. I only remembered the original meaning of 'consume' here and now because, incidentally, I've been writing a first draft today of a piece which includes this word, which is used today in such a different sense!
As with all words, I am convinced that the original meaning is still imprinted in the term. It's the identity of the word. And whether we are aware of it or not, the identity still carries the vibes. In my understanding, every word is a symbol, and symbols are powerful carriers of the energy they represent.
So it's hardly surprising when we look at 'consumerism' and see how destructive it is... right?
The main problem is that we have set up a society that encourages greed through several mechanisms, the main one being replacing community by money. Technology and economic advancement encourage and directly participate in the destruction of communities and direct contact with nature.
What that means is that we have a shift. In the past, people could rely on their community to help them when they had trouble. Now, the only thing that will help you in trouble is having money to pay for medical bills and replacing property. Before, people could rise to be greatly appreciated and cared for based on their good deeds in communities. Now, people are mainly lauded based on their income and the kind of car they drive.
Moreover, people need to find shelter and the only possible shelters that exist now are exceptionally expensive properties that require wealth to purchase. In small communities, land would always be available to new members of the community. In short, we have traded our communities for technological progress where the primary motivation is to replace human connections with technological connections and that requires wealth.
Unfortunately, we already had much more wealth in previous times -- clean air, local foods, and access to natural areas. We have destroyed that for an artificial concept of wealth that is becoming increasingly abstract and whose focus is mainly a way for the rich to acquire more and more.
In my opinion, industrial society and our current way of life are 100% doomed, and the only hope for us is starting over after a devastating combination of economic disasters and revolution, which mostly could have been avoided if people actually took action earlier. The other alternative is a complete subsumation into a technological complex that will eradicate the entire biosphere.
Human extinction or loss of autonomy are real possibilities once we reach peak greed. Yet, it might not be so. The future is always hard to predict, because we can't account for unknown events and how much weight to give them in mathematical models.
I think extinction is highly unlikely. High population reduction is much more likely. Of course, it is still avoidable, assuming we voluntarily reduce our population.
If you mean birth control and the use of contraception, then I agree. But this is already common in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The highest birth rates are found chiefly in Africa, and the use of birth control runs head on against traditions and poverty.
The use of birth control in Africa also runs against campaigns of the Roman Catholic Church to prevent the spread of family planning there, but I digress. Besides those existing measures, I also meant incentives for fewer children, restructuring society so that not having children is more encouraged, and limits on the number of children people can have. Some people might see that as Draconian but it's even worse to allow the population to increase unchecked.
Yes and no. Selfishness is selfishness. Knowing that your survival is intrinsically linked to the survival of others is healthy selfishness. Rugged individualism, competition, and the only the strong survive mentality is the lethal form of it. Capitalism turned many of our survival instincts against us😞
This is a different kind of selfishness, Jasmine, an enlightened one, not merely for personal gain. It is the same reason I feed the birds, squirrels, Henry Newton and Arya the Cockatiel. It brings me joy.
Doing good is never wrong. The selfish and greedy do not care for doing good. It is all personal gain and aggrandizement. This is a necessary distinction to make.
Right! The lie of so-called egoism is that we are inherently self-interested. There is an apocryphal anecdote that is described in moral philosophy that was originally intended to support the egoist 's claim: Abraham Lincoln is being ferried about in a carriage when he hears some squealing pigs. He's headed home but demands that his driver pull over to the side. He discovers that the pigs are suffering and is able to save them. As the driver resumes bringing him home, he asks Lincoln about his altruistic action. Lincoln responds that altruism was not his motivator, he simply did not want to have nightmares tonight. The egoist would have us believe that this is evidence of egoism. But they are mistaken. A true egoist would not have the capacity to feel bad for another less they had some intrinsic interest in seeing other people or other beings not suffer. Egoism and the capitalist economic system which embraces it as a virtuous characteristic of human nature distort the fact that we have a natural interest in behaving altruistically because as social beings we quite naturally care for one another and derive joy from being in relation to and helping others.
It's hard to understand that hoarding impulse, isn't it?
And the way destruction of the environment through using private jets and having so much stuff is a way of life for some people. I hope they learn to love themselves to the point where caring for others and for our life support system, our only earth, becomes normal for them.
My sense is that they're missing so much joy and connection, even though it would seem otherwise.
It may be a way of life for some people, but we are all supporting that way of life because virtually everyone except forest hermits are keeping the consumerist system going. The person who buys the private jet can only do so because hundreds of others make the private jet.
And we can do things like make our own personal care products and buy locally, and bank at credit unions.
Money is power, and we have a certain amount of money and can empower the things we want to see more of, and disempower what we want to see less of.
I got tired of plastic containers of shampoo, so now make my own. My hair benefits, and so does my pocket book and the environment. We need to jump at all these opportunities to redirect our money.
Here's a small little example: a few years back I switched to using "safety razors" for shaving. Contemporary safety razors are, as I understand it, a bit safer than the ones of prior generations. Though they aren't without their perils since more of the blade is exposed than on a disposable plastic razor. In any case, a few years back I bought several hundred razor blades. After a couple of week or so of shaving, I recycle the blade and insert a new one. Over these past four or so years I've not only reduced my consumption I've saved significant amounts of money along with reducing my contribution to a disposable good.
True, a very small minority is doing so. That's not a bad thing, but it is exceptionally hard to believe that consumption will be reduced worldwide given how hard developing nations are now attempting to catch up to the most advanced countries. And if we look at plastic production graphs, CO2 graphs, any consumption related graph whatsoever, humans are pretty much doing nothing.
I'm not saying it can't be done, but I do believe voluntary reduction by personal action alone will not suffice.
Yes, I think Erich Fromm was right in his views about the greedy and selfish. They are not living life and they are completely alienated from Nature. Sad sacks, really.
That speech by Charlie Chaplin is so truth revealing, Perry. I have not actually seen that before. The level of greed at times appears all-pervasive. I agree with you that I do not think we have reached peak greed. Hopefully things can turn around day-by-day, moment by moment. Awareness of greed alone would be a good first step. Thank you for sharing.
Perry, this is a very fine essay. Better, than anything I could write at least and it is a good thing you wrote it. "Peak Greed". !!! Utterly original I'm very happy to be a subscriber.
Thank you, Michael. This is a subject that I have been thinking about for decades, so it is something that I now feel compelled to share with readers. My ideas are not original, but I do write in a certain style. Often with the pen of morality.
Thank you I was hoping this would show up somewhere and hear it is. Thanks again.
I am glad that the subject of this article agrees with you. Have a good day, Boyd.
Wonderful post. Thank you.
Thank you, Dan.
So much to appreciate here. Thank you for the quote from Adam Smith. And of course I applaud the inclusion of Fromm's counter-intuitive yet profound insight that the selfish and narcissistic person is the opposite of a self-loving being. Grasping this insight enables us not only to navigate the social problems of our day but also our interpersonal relationships. Some of the people hurting most in our world appear to be "full of themselves" when they are actually experiencing a void of self and meaning. And this of course relates to your larger point. That greed and acquisition fail to quench the thirst for life. Instead they leave us further depleted like a city dweller stranded on an island proudly drinking sea water, convinced that he possesses all the water he needs to stay properly hydrated.
Thank you, Jeffrey. So well put, about the emptiness and alienation of a life of wealth acquisition and hoarding.
I completely agree with this analysis, Perry. I guess the question is why are there so many self-haters? What has gone wrong?
I couldn’t agree more, Perry. Unfortunately, such events program neurobiology (and therefore, behaviour) and are trans generational. I hope we can break the cycle soon. We all have a part to play.
This is a good question that requires examination and discussion. I do not have the answer, but I sense that part of the answer is childhood trauma of some sort, often from emotionally or physically abusive parents.
Where such people grew up in a home with a lack of acceptance, validation and love. The film, Citizen Kane, touches on this theme. So, instead of developing the inner self (intrinsic values), which takes a thought life, evaluation and hard work, they focus all of their energies on extrinsic values. This is far easier to do.
In other words, on material goods. It is never satisfying, because all individuals require self-love, and in the case of the abused individual, inner healing. I would also add that all of us also requires harmony with the greater natural world.
Such are my thoughts. I am sure others with more expertise can add to them. And improve them.
Thank you for this excellent essay, Perry. Featuring Charlie Chaplin’s movie is also deeply resonant. One of the great movies of all time and a profound response to fascism. I’m always heartened by your emphasis on consuming less as a way for each individual to counteract pervasive human greed.
Yes, there are small acts of kindness for the Earth that can add up.
Great essay Perry. Many good responses. To add, the absolute disrespect of not only nature or finding true inspiration through God'd greatest gifts to us, also imagining generations born into this unnatural greed, which is normally a tremendous shift, until it shifts back via the tipping scale (something has to give) which we have seen throughout history - my greatest concerns remaining on the condition of those we look away from, as idols of influence increase as the only people to watch., i.e., our homeless, drug addicted, poor, and especially our elderly (lost in digital and automated evil - which will also continue to get worse and oust them from society). For me it's all Biblical. Matthew 6:24
I was writing a short Sunday amen before I saw this ✨✨ No coincidence.
Thank you, Deborah.
In terms of "looking away," this at least acknowledges the person in front of you and your discomfort of witnessing such misery shows that one's conscience is working, perhaps at minimal level, but nonetheless working. Far worse is the person who looks straight at the person suffering and either says or thinks that such a person deserves such a fate. Such a person's conscience is seared.
Great post, and film, and quotes, Perry. Definitely spot on and is really engaging to read. I was aware that self-love and selfishness were different (and you can't love others if you can't love yourself) but had not come across the quote from Erich Fromm who articulates the difference so well; so thank you for that.
"Greed is good" -- from the 1987 film "Wall Street" - which marked part of a seed-change in morality. I think it's beginning to crumble; it's got so extreme now, people are beginning to see (through) it. Bit I agree, it will get worse before it crashes.
Solace and sanity then to be found in the film about the forest and birds - so colourful too. I've watched the first 10 mnutes and will come back to it.
I too found the Fromm quote right on the mark; it confirms what I have observed in human behaviour. Yes, solace and sanity in Nature.
I agree with you, Perry. The original meaning of the word 'consume' is 'to destroy, annihilate'. A 'consumer' in 15 c. was a person who 'squanders and wastes' or who 'destroys the exchangeable value of a commodity by using it'.
People must instinctively know that and inadvertently stay true to the original sense.
I have often thought that there shouldn't just be a 'minimum wage' but also a 'maximum income' or possession in terms of capital and land ownership. That individuals can own more than some countries as a whole is obscene and throws the whole human society out of balance.
Thank you for sharing these valuable thoughts.
Thank you, Veronika, for your response, and especially for discussing the original meaning of consume/consumer. I had forgotten. There were expressions used when I was younger, such as “consumed by guilt” or “consumed by greed.” it might be time to make these phrases popular once again.
yes. Absolutely. Great examples. I only remembered the original meaning of 'consume' here and now because, incidentally, I've been writing a first draft today of a piece which includes this word, which is used today in such a different sense!
As with all words, I am convinced that the original meaning is still imprinted in the term. It's the identity of the word. And whether we are aware of it or not, the identity still carries the vibes. In my understanding, every word is a symbol, and symbols are powerful carriers of the energy they represent.
So it's hardly surprising when we look at 'consumerism' and see how destructive it is... right?
Yes, very destructive.
Nicely said, Perry.
The main problem is that we have set up a society that encourages greed through several mechanisms, the main one being replacing community by money. Technology and economic advancement encourage and directly participate in the destruction of communities and direct contact with nature.
What that means is that we have a shift. In the past, people could rely on their community to help them when they had trouble. Now, the only thing that will help you in trouble is having money to pay for medical bills and replacing property. Before, people could rise to be greatly appreciated and cared for based on their good deeds in communities. Now, people are mainly lauded based on their income and the kind of car they drive.
Moreover, people need to find shelter and the only possible shelters that exist now are exceptionally expensive properties that require wealth to purchase. In small communities, land would always be available to new members of the community. In short, we have traded our communities for technological progress where the primary motivation is to replace human connections with technological connections and that requires wealth.
Unfortunately, we already had much more wealth in previous times -- clean air, local foods, and access to natural areas. We have destroyed that for an artificial concept of wealth that is becoming increasingly abstract and whose focus is mainly a way for the rich to acquire more and more.
In my opinion, industrial society and our current way of life are 100% doomed, and the only hope for us is starting over after a devastating combination of economic disasters and revolution, which mostly could have been avoided if people actually took action earlier. The other alternative is a complete subsumation into a technological complex that will eradicate the entire biosphere.
Human extinction or loss of autonomy are real possibilities once we reach peak greed. Yet, it might not be so. The future is always hard to predict, because we can't account for unknown events and how much weight to give them in mathematical models.
I think extinction is highly unlikely. High population reduction is much more likely. Of course, it is still avoidable, assuming we voluntarily reduce our population.
If you mean birth control and the use of contraception, then I agree. But this is already common in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The highest birth rates are found chiefly in Africa, and the use of birth control runs head on against traditions and poverty.
The use of birth control in Africa also runs against campaigns of the Roman Catholic Church to prevent the spread of family planning there, but I digress. Besides those existing measures, I also meant incentives for fewer children, restructuring society so that not having children is more encouraged, and limits on the number of children people can have. Some people might see that as Draconian but it's even worse to allow the population to increase unchecked.
Yes and no. Selfishness is selfishness. Knowing that your survival is intrinsically linked to the survival of others is healthy selfishness. Rugged individualism, competition, and the only the strong survive mentality is the lethal form of it. Capitalism turned many of our survival instincts against us😞
I help others for purely a selfish reason, that being a better world for others means a better world for me too. I'm not free until we're all free!
This is a different kind of selfishness, Jasmine, an enlightened one, not merely for personal gain. It is the same reason I feed the birds, squirrels, Henry Newton and Arya the Cockatiel. It brings me joy.
Doing good is never wrong. The selfish and greedy do not care for doing good. It is all personal gain and aggrandizement. This is a necessary distinction to make.
Right! The lie of so-called egoism is that we are inherently self-interested. There is an apocryphal anecdote that is described in moral philosophy that was originally intended to support the egoist 's claim: Abraham Lincoln is being ferried about in a carriage when he hears some squealing pigs. He's headed home but demands that his driver pull over to the side. He discovers that the pigs are suffering and is able to save them. As the driver resumes bringing him home, he asks Lincoln about his altruistic action. Lincoln responds that altruism was not his motivator, he simply did not want to have nightmares tonight. The egoist would have us believe that this is evidence of egoism. But they are mistaken. A true egoist would not have the capacity to feel bad for another less they had some intrinsic interest in seeing other people or other beings not suffer. Egoism and the capitalist economic system which embraces it as a virtuous characteristic of human nature distort the fact that we have a natural interest in behaving altruistically because as social beings we quite naturally care for one another and derive joy from being in relation to and helping others.
Wonderful story of Lincoln; how one views this story explains much about our relationship to others.
It's hard to understand that hoarding impulse, isn't it?
And the way destruction of the environment through using private jets and having so much stuff is a way of life for some people. I hope they learn to love themselves to the point where caring for others and for our life support system, our only earth, becomes normal for them.
My sense is that they're missing so much joy and connection, even though it would seem otherwise.
Thanks for posting, Perry.
It may be a way of life for some people, but we are all supporting that way of life because virtually everyone except forest hermits are keeping the consumerist system going. The person who buys the private jet can only do so because hundreds of others make the private jet.
We can make choices to consume less; many of us have already done so. It does not have to be an all-or-nothing approach.
And we can do things like make our own personal care products and buy locally, and bank at credit unions.
Money is power, and we have a certain amount of money and can empower the things we want to see more of, and disempower what we want to see less of.
I got tired of plastic containers of shampoo, so now make my own. My hair benefits, and so does my pocket book and the environment. We need to jump at all these opportunities to redirect our money.
Here's a small little example: a few years back I switched to using "safety razors" for shaving. Contemporary safety razors are, as I understand it, a bit safer than the ones of prior generations. Though they aren't without their perils since more of the blade is exposed than on a disposable plastic razor. In any case, a few years back I bought several hundred razor blades. After a couple of week or so of shaving, I recycle the blade and insert a new one. Over these past four or so years I've not only reduced my consumption I've saved significant amounts of money along with reducing my contribution to a disposable good.
True, a very small minority is doing so. That's not a bad thing, but it is exceptionally hard to believe that consumption will be reduced worldwide given how hard developing nations are now attempting to catch up to the most advanced countries. And if we look at plastic production graphs, CO2 graphs, any consumption related graph whatsoever, humans are pretty much doing nothing.
I'm not saying it can't be done, but I do believe voluntary reduction by personal action alone will not suffice.
Yes, I think Erich Fromm was right in his views about the greedy and selfish. They are not living life and they are completely alienated from Nature. Sad sacks, really.
The Chaplin clip is powerful and utterly relevant today
I restacked the essay to Notes so as to bring it to a wider audience.
Very good, Michael. I suspect and hope that this essay will help people see things, open discussions and hearts.
That speech by Charlie Chaplin is so truth revealing, Perry. I have not actually seen that before. The level of greed at times appears all-pervasive. I agree with you that I do not think we have reached peak greed. Hopefully things can turn around day-by-day, moment by moment. Awareness of greed alone would be a good first step. Thank you for sharing.
Awareness will lead to change, but it will not be an easy or simple process.
Perry, this is a very fine essay. Better, than anything I could write at least and it is a good thing you wrote it. "Peak Greed". !!! Utterly original I'm very happy to be a subscriber.
Thank you, Michael. This is a subject that I have been thinking about for decades, so it is something that I now feel compelled to share with readers. My ideas are not original, but I do write in a certain style. Often with the pen of morality.