September 27
|
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.
|
Questions to
consider:
Why are so many people so greedy? What are they
afraid of?
How do greedy people harm others?
Why are so many greedy people successful in their quests
to hold public offices? Why do people vote for them? |
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
|
|
|
|
|
quotations
- contents
-
welcome
page
-
obstacles
our
current e-zine
-
the
people behind the words
-
articles
and excerpts
Daily
Meditations, Year One - Year
Two - Year Three - Year Four
Sign up
for your free daily spiritual or general quotation ~ ~ Sign
up for your free daily meditation
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
|
tm |
|
All contents © Living Life
Fully, all rights reserved. |
|
|
|
|
|
We
have some
inspiring and motivational books that may interest you. Our main way of supporting this site is
through the sale of books, either physical copies
or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the
online reader). All of the money that we earn
through them comes back to the site
in one way or another. Just click on the picture
to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and
non-fiction! |
|
|
|