GREED

Greed seems to be the word that is ushering us into the new millennium. I would just as soon not have it around. We can blame it for our national lifestyle, resulting in the real estate bubble and crash we are all now experiencing. What happens now? Does it go underground? Do we hide our greed and bring it out again when the economy turns upward? I suggest we ban it forever. Replace it with give. Of course that won't happen.

Human nature and greed seem to be forever linked. The best we seem to be able to do is pass multiple layers of laws to control its effects. I like the example of the farmer selling milk. For years, he sells milk to his neighbors, and all is well. Then his business begins to grow, and he begins shipping it to the nearby town. He doesn't personally know the city folk, so a little contamination doesn't have the weight that it normally would if you sold bad milk to your friend across the road. The added benefit is more profit to the bottom line.

Eventually, quality control becomes an issue, and the government gets involved. They pass laws about selling milk to control what the dairyman should have done in the first place. The laws are a response to greed. How many laws would cease to have meaning if greed went away? We could ask the same question about other vices, such as hatred, or jealousy.

We are forced to pass laws to make us do what we should have done in the first place. It makes me think we are all like selfish children. Fortunately, a change of heart is possible. I am reminded of a verse in the bible; "...in him we live and move and have our being." We no longer live for ourselves, but I find it is always good to evaluate my motives.

Am I the only one?