Ok here we go again guys. I apologise greatly to the few for having not posted in the past 1 month 1 week and 2 days, I really have no excuse other than I lost motivation to continue for a little while. Anyway I will continue with this from now on (at least until I lose will again), and will bring out The Fear Factor soon, since 5 weeks one post would be pretty bad. This one focuses on the effect Greed has on our capitalist societies, an obvious subject, but surprisingly difficult to write in words (As such, this may not be the best article ever)
Obligatory Notice: I do not mean in any way to offend anyone who has conflicting opinions or ideals, I am merely stating possible theories, which I may not necessarily believe in. I also greatly appreciate constructive criticisms and arguments against the points I make, however, I do not wish to have people slandering my opinions with comments/arguments that are unfounded (excluding religious arguments, although whether they are unfounded or not is debatable), and nonsensical (unless, course, your talking about illogicality, which is naturally nonsensical)
Let’s get started…
What is the basis of human society? What is the basis of the current state of human mind, the very core essence that has been created and moulded by its surroundings? The optimistic would suggest that it is love and peace, and yet war and conflict suggests otherwise. A stronger argument that is often suggested is that the basis of society is greed, that society is based on corruption, on capitalism and elitism of the few over the many. The material bases of society are the written laws, which we live and abide by. How and why are these laws formed? The obvious and logical truth is that laws are formed not from a ‘greater good’, or intelligent choices or ideas, but instead by the very basis of the mind. The emotions of the human being. In this article I wish to draw attention to the key argument, and the one most likely relevant to our current society: Greed.
The Greed of Men
Some background history of the emotion of Greed. Greed, as does not need pointing out, has long been considered a negative, disruptive and ultimately destructive emotion, breeding corruption, hatred and elitism, among others. By the Christian Church (and many others, I might add), greed has been considered a trecherous and heretical sin, and all who succumb to it are condemned to eternal hellfire and damnation.
The emotion greed is defined as:
A selfish or excessive desire for more than is needed or deserved, especially of money, wealth or power.
It should be pointed out that greed is the desire, and not the pursuit of said desire. However, the pursuit of greed is what is to be taken into account, when the formation of our capitalist society comes into play.
Motivation and Excess
Greed is seen as the excess of what one needs, but how does this excess come to be? Why do we feel the ‘need’ (I use the term lightly, of course) to by-pass our simplistic need, in order to achieve greater wants. Although motivation is generally seen as a good thing, this extreme, insatiable drive to achieve is what gives birth to such feelings of greed. However, this drive is often our motivation for living, and often encouraged, if only subconsciously, throughout the veins of society. However, the question arises as to whether this drive is innate, or adaptive.
In order for us to examine this excess, we must first return to the roots of the very human existence. Humans have instinctual urges built into their mental and physical system, created for our survival. The two key ones, as we all know, would be survival, and reproduction. We follow our instincts to survive, and as such have the ability to reproduce. Through this reproduction, more beings with the will to survive are created, who in turn repeat this cycle over and over. The will to survive is where I begin.
Living requires certain necesseties, certain requirements, to be fulfilled and maintained, in order to guarantee survival. The obvious components of this would be food, drink and warmth. Our survival requires us to maintain such needs, and as such, it would be natural for us to instinctually want to gain as much, if not an infinite, supply of such necessities. This is, in my belief, what has created our lust, our greed, our want. In our modern day society, certain new, developed aspects help to guarantee us such necessities. The most common of these, naturally, are what is listed in the definition of greed itself: Money, Wealth and Power.
The Effect in Capitalism
A captalist society, such as the one we live in currently, is based on the laws of gain or loss. As such, everybody wants to make a gain, and nobody wants to make a loss. Due to the integration, and dependence, of money, money has become the key object of the inhabitants within capitalist societies. Of course, power (which is also closely linked with money) is also an obvious pursuit fueled by ‘greed’, though to a much lesser extent in today’s society. The guarantee of life is an excess of money, and therefore many gain more money than ‘needed’, causing others to essentially suffer from no guarantee of survival. Whether intentionally or inadvertently, this shows that the capitalist society creates disregard for human life (par one’s own), which is directly linked to the emotion of greed.
Conclusion
In conclusion of this section, it can be shown that both innate and adaptive processes are used in forming greed, and therefore society. These are formed from the human mind’s insatiable lust for life’s necessities (innate), coupled with the learnt idea that the closest path to a guaranteed survival is through power and wealth (adaptive). If these two are indeed jointly used to create the atmosphere of greed, then greed may not be a sin, an ‘evil’. It could be considered merely a creation of the time, and the attitude of the environment we have created. However, greed is so integral to the functioning of the capitalist society that we both depend on it to uphold the society and its economy in productive form, while at the same time encouraging the condemnation of the majority of the population by the few.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed - Gandhi
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Slightly off topic, but where is somenthing no longer considered a want, but a greed?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, in my opinion, society (and the world in general) follows, as you said a form of the law of equivalent exchange. Reading this makes me wonder, has Bill Gates done more harm or good by creating the Microsoft giant? On one hand, he gives more money to charity (earned via Microsoft) than pretty much anyone, and Microsoft employs hundreds of people, giving them the chance to satisfy their needs. On the other hand, Microoft almost has a monopoly over software and is thus preventing competition. Competition means lower prices which (in theory) would lead to a more even spread of wealth.
A want is when you want to achieve and gain something, a 'greed' is when you want to gain an excessive amount of the want, past what is needed.
ReplyDeleteAs a question of more harm than good on Bill Gates, I believe that he has unintentionally done little to help society. As you know, I do not believe charity succeeds in helping third-world countries due to corrupt governments, ubt also the fact that his monopoly helped accentuate my point of the eventual rule of few over the many.
It's just unfortunate that capitalism has a dependency on the economy, which in turn relies on the greed of men to fuel it. As long as we live in a capitalist society, greed will become a (if not THE) focal point of humanity.
What are your views on communism then?
ReplyDeleteIn my ideal world, everyone would start on level footing, and those who rise to the top without the use of underhand trick should(theoretically)deserve to be there. Communism is a great idea, but it suppresses peoples dreams of success which all humans are entitled to.
Communism is subject to the emotion of fear and despair, much like fascism (I will get onto that later today). The theory of communism is giving the entirety of power to the state, and then expect the state to wither away, a theory that I consider to be preposterous, as this would only create fascism (I cannot see an absolute power voluntarily destroying itself). I do not believe that Communism can work at all, but but I also believe that Capitalism is only a short-term solution, and is self-destructive in the long run.
ReplyDeleteAltogether, I think the only solution is for humans to realise the hopelessness in their current systems, followed by anarchism and the destruction of the state and institutions, and finally a stable period of voluntary order and equality, as opposed to imposed order. However, for this to come into play, people would need to accept that their way of living is hopeless and futile, and I doubt people would be willing to accept that.
As a hypothetical question; would you prefer the medieval system, capitolism, tyranny or communism anarchy isnt an option).
ReplyDeleteAlso, in your voluntary system, what would happen to those who agree but then don't comply and those who don't agree in the 1st place and decide to create chaos?