Whence and Whither - Greed.
One of the least understood and most damaging of all human traits is Greed. Webster’s defines Greed as: “a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (such as money) than is needed.” What concerns me most about this definition is that it implies greed is volitional i.e. one chooses to be greedy. In point of fact Greed is based on fundamental survival instincts gone awry. I came to this particular conclusion after repeatedly watching my dogs fight (or come close to it) over food. Indeed, the only other thing I’ve ever see them fight over is squeaky toys. Food however, is something I’ve seen them fight over for many years. While my dogs are anything but underfed that has not always been true for their species and, in fact, there are many dogs kept as pets that do not get enough to eat.
Dogs and many other animals over the course of their respective histories were NOT able to guarantee their next meal. In this regard humans share this particular experience dating back thousands of years. Over time the needs of humans grew beyond food to include shelter, articles to help them hunt, forage or defend themselves. Because these things were not provided by nature, humans had to fabricate them in some fashion. Some were lucky enough to find naturally occurring caves and, over time, some sources of food were found that did not require some form of violence to secure e.g. deciduous fruits. Even so, the struggle to ensure one’s survival and the survival of close relatives has continued, relatively unabated, to the present day. Granted, the things one does to secure food, shelter and implements to assist with both have changed over the centuries.
Today, instead of foraging in forests or hunting animals to meet our most basic needs, we sell our time and efforts to those who pay us in presently accepted currencies. Indeed, most modern commerce is in some real way related to meeting basic needs in exchange for money or goods deemed essential for survival. Over the past few centuries this type of commerce has resulted in the most dangerous and insidious form of greed the planet has ever witnessed - the pursuit of money for its own sake. This pursuit ultimately relates to survival however, over time, an ever shrinking percentage of humans have focused on money as the primary or sole solution to the problem of ensuring survival. Today, money is used to obtain shelter, purchase food, obtain essential services such as health and dental care and to help alleviate fears related to survival. Members of the 1% use it to effectively isolate themselves from their fellow humans. Worse, their only real source of money is other humans and they will literally lie, cheat and STEAL from anyone to obtain more and more money.
While the uber-wealthy have been around for a few centuries now, their efforts to gain more and more money has developed into a conscious effort to control as much of the World and its populace as can be achieved. Indeed, despite increasing evidence of dramatic climate change and the reality that it will eventually kill millions, if not billions, of human beings has no real impact on them. They have “developed” beyond being a member of the species to seeing other humans as a simple means to an end. Rather than risk having their lifestyles changed they are more than comfortable with the increasing probability that the future of our species is at risk if it means keeping their ill gotten gains.
Today, greed as it is embodied by people such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg etc.…, constitutes an existential threat to the average human being and our species itself. Further, far too many 1% sycophants seek to advance the interests of the uber-greedy in order to gain possible access to whatever de facto Ark these sociopaths (which Webster’s defines as: a person having an egocentric and antisocial personality marked by a lack of remorse for one's actions, an absence of empathy for others, and often criminal tendencies) believe they’re cobbling together. The only real question at this point is not whether these people can be rehabilitated - they cant, it’s whether the human species can afford to tolerate them for another day. I suppose if WE took every single item they possess, particularly their money, they might finally see the light of day but, frankly, I doubt it.