Off-Clock Musings

On Greed

This is dedicated to my friend Zeke as he inspired me to write this.

Side Note: Zeke is an excellent writer. Give his story a chance and make sure to join his discussion with me on greed on his profile)!

For the sake of discussion, let us define greed the way Zeke defines it in his post: Excessive selfishness that leads to the use of violence.

At first, I thought of greed the way Zeke defined it, but the more I thought about it and discussed it with him, the more I realized that what he is describing is possibly not greed but rather viciousness. In my humble opinion, greed can be vicious, but it might not always be an evil characteristic. On the surface, it may seem as though we want nothing but power and control, but deep down, perhaps psychology may show us that isn't the case at all.

I tend to look at things from a psychological perspective. In this case, I asked myself if what we truly desire are control and power, and, if they are, then why do we desire such things? Why can't we all be friends, hold hands, and share the game we hunted down? How is it that one person can hoard all the toilet paper and the rest of us have scarps (more on that in the near future).

People tend to view life in a modern day lense, but humans aren't exactly as "modern" and "civilized" as we'd like to think we are. We know that, from psychology and biology, men still want to provide and protect; it's in their nature, and we also know that it's in the nature of women to prefer to nurture their children. We also know men gravitate towards physical aggression and women verbal aggression.

I would like to focus on a particular psychological example, something that demonstrates how primitive we are. One personality study, one of the biggest to ever be conducted in the field, shows results that countered the hypothesis that, the more free a country is, the more similar men and women become. The results show the very opposite, that the more free a country is, the more different men and women become. The outcome also shows that the less free a country is, the less different men and women are; in Bangladesh and Syria, for instance, women score more similarly to men on personality tests compared to the Netherlands and Sweden. The biggest differences were found in Scandinavian countries, the countries reputed as the most gender-equal countries. The personality differences lie in several different traits, so I will stick to agreeability: women are more agreeable than men, on average, and men are more disagreeable than women, on average, one of the explanations why men tend to go to jail more often than women. This trait, although has its advantages, also has its disadvantages, the disadvantages being quite primal in my estimation. This trait that men tend to express can make it easy for certain men to break the law, not follow the crowd, and do as they please, uncaring toward what consequences their actions may lead to. They may not put others first when they should be doing so, only catering to themselves.

Do men who score high in disagreeableness always get the grain first? The truth is that they do. These men tend to get their way in things through negotiation and assertiveness, for example, and they go to far lengths in order to get that grain. Because they want it. And they're going to get it. Period.

But why exactly are they like this? Are they greedy? Do they just hate everyone? Do they think they're better than everyone else?

Here's where I'll put the line between fact and opinion. Everything I described thus far is supported by substantial psychological evidence whereas what I will explain now will be my mere thoughts; whether they are supported by science or not, I do not know.

We are animals. Yes, our complex brains distinguish us greatly from other types of animals, but we still share plenty of primitive drives and instincts as animals do. One common drive that all animals share is survival; we all want to survive so that we can procreate, and we want a safe, secure environment for ourselves and our seed, for no live creature wants to go extinct. This drive to survive makes us all extremely vulnerable beings, including the strongest lions and tigers, and even plants and insects. Vulnerability makes us want to rid ourselves of it, so much so that all animals are willing to do what it takes to gain security. Even plants can be invasive to other plants at times, harming the environment, local plants, and sometimes even human health! Life is just a survival game, a game all living beings are hoping to win at.

The amount of competition we all have is almost surreal. If there's a way for us to break our vulnerable shells, we will do exactly that, no matter how "evil" it may seem. Hyenas steal scores off lions all the time, and they even eat lion cubs sometimes. After invading a territory, male lions will kill any cubs that are not theirs so that they can only spread their seed. Even cute little birds are territorial, wanting everything for themselves. Are they greedy—these plants and animals? No. They are trying to survive. That's all. It's that simple for them. The amount of competition there is is enough reason for us all to want to take drastic measures to mark this Earth as ours, to take our place on whatever throne we want to sit on.

Humans do it to animals and plants; we are no exception, killing any other species that stops us from growing as we want to. We've evolved from animals, so it makes total sense that we would use the same strategies they use to ensure we shed our vulnerable shells. While the world has changed and become safer for humans, our inner-selves haven't changed. I think that's why people classify others as greedy, why the topic isn't so black-and-white.

Now don't misinterpret my thoughts. Just because we are this way, it doesn't mean we are in the right in acting so. I am merely explaining why we are the way we are, not justifying our actions. Even more so, there's a fine line between greed and viciousness as I've told Zeke; more on that in a different part.