When i was in college, during one of my public speaking classes, the professor asked an impromtu question to one of my friends. The question was simple and basic: "for you, what is the most dreaded disease?" Internalizing and feeling that i'm the one being questioned, thoughts of physical illnesses came rushing in my head-- heart disease, cancer, etc.
I was taken aback when my friend answered in a very soft, convincing voice. She said: "greed."
True enough and I have to agree that greed is the most prevalent disease in the world. We witness this everyday. We feel this. It is existing within and among us. It saddens me that most of time when I encounter people, they worry about money and how to get more of it. People are so overwhelmed and compelled to get more than what they need. Most people nowadays think that money is the answer to everything and that it is the main source of happiness; which I think is just wrong. I wont be a hypocrite here. I myself had been greedy, well not only once but many times. However, i cant totally blame these people or myself for being greedy at times.There is just so much in the world that we want to have or at least try. There are so many external factors that push us to be greedy. Also, we may have our inner id that have gone overdrive. We as individuals innately want to have more. Theories in human behavior can attest to this. However, what I guess is more important is on how we deal with this compulsion. Just like in government, we should have a check and balance scheme. We need to constantly reflect and be wary of things that we do. We have to achieve a level of equilibrium where we learn that this inner desire of us wanting more should be tapered down.
What is wrong with greed? I seriously do not know. However, if we believe in the principle of justice where everything must be shared by everyone and that there is right distribution of resources, then i guess, there is something wrong with it. Then again, this is not absolute in all conditions. Bottom line is, we must continuously reevaluate our perspective of what is moral and immoral for us. We must define what we believe in and apply it in our daily life.
As for me, i rest the case that greed is immortal and that it will loiter our minds forever.
