Today's quotation:

Selfishness and greed, individual or national, cause most of our troubles.

Harry S. Truman

Today's Meditation:

I wish that more people could have learned this lesson long ago, so that so many of the greedy politicians that have been elected recently never would have gotten the votes that they got.  So that so many of the greedy corporate people who raise prices to excessive levels could be controlled somehow.  Yes, there are definitely politicians and businesspeople who aren't greedy, who are kind and generous and compassionate, but our world seems to be dominated these days by the greedy, and we're all paying a very heavy price for this fact.

We have many problems in our society, both on the national and personal level, and so many of those problems can be traced to selfish deeds and actions on the parts of people who are "in charge."  Truman most certainly was right when he said what he did, and we continue to suffer from the same problem now that he pointed out so clearly when he was alive.

So what do we do about it?  First of all, of course, we don't want to be the pot that's calling the kettle black-- it's important that we keep our own wants and desires realistic and moderate, lest we fall into the trap of being greedy and selfish ourselves.  We can do all we can to encourage others to practice moderation for their own good, not because we think they should be moderate.  And we can educate others on the negative outcomes of greed so that during the next election cycle, whenever that is, perhaps more of the people who focus on greed and selfishness will be voted out of the offices they hold.

Other people's greed is difficult to witness, for we see the negative results on everyone, while it seems that the greedy themselves have no idea of the harm they cause.  And there seems to be so little chance for change-- and we all know that even when we do change, the replacements often are just as bad or worse as those they are replacing.  Our only true recourse is to make sure that we don't practice those things that harm others, and that we take care of our own yard before we criticize the yard on the other side of the fence.

For further thought:

The ugliest thing in America is greed, the lust for power and domination, the lunatic ideology of perpetual Growth-- with a capital G. "Progress" in our nation has for too long been confused with "Growth"; I see the two as different, almost incompatible, since progress means, or should mean, change for the better--toward social justice, a livable and open world, equal opportunity and affirmative action for all forms of life. And I mean all forms, not merely the human. The grizzly, the wolf, the rattlesnake, the condor, the coyote, the crocodile, whatever, each and every species has as much right to be here as we do.

Edward Abbey
Postcards from Ed

more thoughts and ideas on greed

All contents © Living Life Fully, all rights reserved.