Greed Essay, Research Paper

Greed can drive people to do bad things. Greed has a powerful influence over our national penchant for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, particularly as it involves our fondness for money, food, love, power, and sex.

The love of money can not only be harmful to oneself, but to others as well. Money rules our world. This planet revolves around money as sure as it revolves around the sun. If no one had money, then perhaps we would all be equal. Greed drives us further apart; it creates a caste system with the industrialized nations at the top, and the second, third and fourth world nations occupying the lesser orders. In short, it’s a system that destroys the very values we pretend to honor, if not fully observe. Greed is one of the few forces strong enough to tear apart such a highly developed society as ours.

Greed expresses itself in many different ways, as in the matter of love — a very strong emotion which often proves most difficult to invest in the object of its affection. Some people confuse sex with love. Greed may well affect one’s pursuit of either, but they are two entirely different “goals”. Greed for love is not always easy to find, but it is out there. Many people have greed for love because they did not receive enough love when they were younger. People try so hard to find love that it becomes an obsession; they look everywhere for it, and when they finally find love, it’s still not good enough. That is when greed steps in. Greed drives people to do bad things. Things like cheating on someone who loves you very much. Greed for the perfect love can sometimes blind you from seeing or appreciating the ones around you — the very people who love and care for you very much. Being “love greedy” always results in hurting those you love.

Greed for sex is one form of greed that I wish was not around. Sex is a very strong physical pleasure. Some people become extremely greedy for sex. This is what makes people commit egregious sexual crimes. This world needs reproduction, but I feel that it is a pleasure that should be shared only with the one you love. When people commit sexual crimes they are being greedy. Greed for this immensely gratifying pleasure is currently out of control in our society. All too many people have been affected by this overwhelming greediness for sex. All people do not commit sex crimes, but the people who do are contributing to the downfall of relationships.

Greed as it affects mankind’s perpetual struggle to feed itself is another major problem facing us today. A prime example of greed as it relates to food is the United States of America. We have more than enough food to feed billions of people, while our population is only two hundred seventy five million. Yet there are still starving people in the world. Some of our citizens call this “looking out for you own”, but I call it being greedy. We have no reason for holding back food from other countries that are in dire need of it. Seventy-five percent (75 %) of Americans are overweight. Why do we need the extra food? We don’t we are just being greedy. Greed is an overwhelming force that has affected us all at one point or another. Greed for food not only hurts the world at large, but also diminishes those who will not share their abundance.

Greed as it affects the pursuit of power can be one of the worst “diseases” to suffer. Granted, power brings one respect, but often the people who truly deserve respect are overlooked during the commotion created by those greedy for power as they elbow their way to the front of the crowd. It has been said that power corrupts, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is for this reason that we must all take seriously our rights, especially when it comes to our right to exercise our freedom of speech through the ballot, electing responsible people to the offices which will determine, in large part, our futures.

My conclusion is that greed exercised negatively usually results in negative outcomes — sometimes resulting in forces that cannot be reckoned with. Such forces can affect billions of people at one time. Greed is often counter-productive; if, on the other hand we, as a society, could abolish greed, we might