Definition:
greed |grēd|
noun
intense and selfish desire for something, esp. wealth, power, or food.
What comes to mind when I say that greed is a destructive emotion?
Me? I think of a grossly obese man stuffing his mouth with food, with a stack of empty dishes at his elbow (he’s already eaten plates full) and a table full of food in front of him (intent to eat even more).
I am not prejudiced. I am very much aware that obesity isn’t always caused by greed and that sometimes it is the result of a medical condition beyond the control of the person. This is not what I am referring to here. I am not even trying to write about the eating habits of the dubiously obese.
I would define greed simply as being the want for more of something that is already owned or consumed. It is usually used in reference to money or power – have some, want more. My father has said on many occasions “absolute power corrupts absolutely” in reference to the many megalomaniacs we have observed together.
I see it in leadership everywhere, the heady feeling of being able to tell someone what to do, how to do it and when to do it gets out of hand so often. Yelling at people, making them feel small and insignificant, making them believe they’ve made mistakes when the mistakes were never theirs .. oh yes, I see it everyday – even now. And it’s the hunger, the greed for the power that makes them able to do it that drives them.
And for a literary reference, Chaucer’s Pardoner’s Tale, comes to mind also when I hear the word “greed”. The Pardoner told a tale of greed being the demise for many. And he prefaced his tale with an explanation of which these words are a snippet:
I preach of nothing but of covetise.
Therefore my theme is yet, and ever was, –
Radix malorum est cupiditas.
Thus can I preach against the same vice
Which that I use, and that is avarice.
But though myself be guilty in that sin,
Yet can I maken other folk to twin
From avarice, and sore them repent.
But that is not my principal intent;
I preache nothing but for covetise.
Of this mattere it ought enough suffice.
I should probably attempt a translation:
I preach only against covetousness.
Therefore, my theme is yet and ever was,
The love of money is the root of all evil. (Radix malorum est cupiditas.)
I can preach against the same vice
That I am guilty of, and that is greed (avarice).
Even though I myself am guilty of that sin,
I can help others “depart”
From greed, and repent.
But that is not what I primarily intend to do;
I preach only against covetousness.
And that should be enough.
He even attributes the casting out of Adam and Eve to greed:
O gluttony, full of all cursedness;
O cause first of our confusion,
Original of our damnation,
Till Christ had bought us with his blood again!
As a side note: I so enjoyed studying this book in school. We had a teacher who would get up in front of the class with her book and perform for us. Her enjoyment of it was infectious -for me anyway. She was the laughing stock for most of the rest of the class. I never forgot the lessons I learned from this tale of a “pardoner” – a kind of lay preacher who scored money in return for pardoning people’s confessed sins – and I had always promised myself to read the balance of the Canterbury Tales.
But I digress, my point was that even the medieval authors wrote about greed which says to me that it has been an issue for humankind for as long as we have existed. While it’s existence may never be truly stomped out, we can individually ensure we watch ourselves for the signs and keep them in check.
Related posts:
- The 5 most destructive emotions: Number 2 – Lust ...
- The 5 most destructive emotions: Number 1 – Anger ...
- The way one thing leads into something completely different… ...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
