American Greed

There are many ethical issues in which society accepts as implied or enforced. Implied ethics are those that society observes without enforcement, such as self-preservation, obtaining happiness, and ensuring a family lineage. Enforced ethics are those that are meant to ensure the norms of society. Examples of these are; do not murder, do not steal, and do not deceive others. Enforced ethics are created to preserve implied ethics, by legislating penalties on aspects that are enforceable. Within these ethical standards, there are moral issues that are inferred. One of the key moral issues is greed.

Greed can be defined as, “the selfish desire for the pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others” (Wikipedia). Greed causes people to engage in wanton desire for the possession of goods, people, or a grandiose lifestyle. The pursuit of other’s goods negatively impacts the implied ethic of others obtaining happiness. Greed’s ability to create desire and incentive to pursue monetary gains through career advancement or drastic personal achievement can be considered a strong positive. While the later may be considered a controlled form of greed, greed’s impact as a driving force in society must be acknowledged and a solution must be sought.

To understand greed, one must consider motivation. Our very act of living has motivated greed from birth. In the beginning, others provide for our needs, through this provision comes a desire for more. As a person grows, so does the breadth of perceived needs. For example, at birth one may receive clothing and food; as a toddler it is a multitude of toys; at adolescence it is a cell phone and TV; and finally by the time the individual is a legal adult it is a car and computer. The lavishness of the gifts provided instills a false sense of need. Even for those that do not receive lavish gifts, they witness what others have and it propagates the false sense of need. An additional motivation comes from conditioning through the media. Today’s media entices greed through advertising and reality depicted in TV shows. TV shows depict well-to-do families who jokingly work through problems while living in upper class homes. Likewise, ‘reality’ TV depicts over the top parties and grandiose lives played out in mansions. For people of all ages, watching this does not depict real life, but, rather, the American dream, and for the few that reach the top, it comes at a cost.

The American family is suffering because of the effects of greed. Greed keeps Mom and Dad away from the home for ten to twelve hours per day. The typical child spends hours at home alone, with a babysitter, or in daycare. A Boston Globe article shares, “Many kids today spend too little time with protective, loving adults and other family members, and they are worse off because of it” (Eberstadt, Sept. 12, 2005). Today’s parents desire to fulfill their greed has long surpassed the emotional needs of their children. While the kids suffer, the parent’s needs are fulfilled, and they seek to compensate their lack of attention by purchasing nicer, larger gifts for their kids. This unfortunately only perpetuates the cycle of kids learning to find value in material items and creating a false sense of what is really needed in life.

To a great extent, greed can be blamed for much of the crime that is so common in today’s culture. Our cultural laws work to protect individual’s life and possessions, and greed seeks to deprive one person for another’s gain. A good example of this is depicted in the movie satire, Dick and Jane. The story unfolds as these two parents work long hours at successful jobs. They live in an upper-middle class neighborhood, drive luxury vehicles, and provide a nanny/housekeeper to look after their son. After a large company closes in town, they are without work and without income. Eventually, their perceived need to maintain their accustomed lifestyle leads them to begin stealing from businesses and neighbors. The movie is meant to be a funny portrayal of real life desperation. However, for a certain portion of people this is reality. Individuals are willing to steal, cheat, and even kill to gain what they think they deserve. Ethically, this type of action is unviable and culturally we must seek a higher standard.

Christian’s higher form of ethics and cultural ethics may at times seem to conflict. However, in the argument of greed they may possess a commonality. A well-known Christian teaching proclaims, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Bible, 1995, Matthew 6:19-21). This teaching explains that a Christian’s monetary pursuit should be tempered by a knowledge of heavenly rewards. Unfortunately, greed takes hold of Christians as well. Many Christians in America tend look more like the ‘tax collectors and sinners’ of Jesus’ time. They have large comfortable homes, drive the luxury vehicles, and believe that monetary gain comes through faithful service. These Christians forget that the path walked by Jesus was one of selflessness and servitude. Jesus states, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). Jesus lived with no home, no vast amount of possessions, and no recordable income. He lived by the Word of God, and the charity of those who accepted him into their homes. As it is recorded in the book of Matthew, “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Bible, 1995, 10:9-12). The writer, Matthew, was one of the “sick”, suffering from greed. He later became one of Jesus’ disciples, leaving his possessions and learning to live in faith that his teacher would provide for his needs and that he must deny his former lavish lifestyle. Today Christians, like Matthew, must aspire to live by faith. Christians can rise to this expectation by observing the tradition of Corban.  “The tradition of “Corban,” a term that translates a Hebrew word which literally means “offering.” In Jesus’ day “Corban” referred to something devoted to God, and, in this case it involve[s] money” (Pojman, 1995. P. 28). Presently, Christians support churches through donations and a willingness “… to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”(Bible, 1995, James 1:27). This is in a nutshell is the solution to greed. By providing for other’s needs, Christians can limit their personal greed by constantly giving to others what they have in excess.

The ethical and moral issue of greed is vast. Greed affects everyone; even those that religiously seek to observe a higher ethical standard. Greed causes some to rise to the top of society through great personal achievement. For others, greed causes them to sink to the bottom of society by stealing and harming others. Greed can be attributed, in part, to the decline of family values and structure. Unfortunately, only way to temper this cultural problem is through individuals limiting their personal desires. This can only be accomplished through individuals pursuing their basic needs, and then providing for others in need. There are Biblical examples of this type of living, and Christians can begin the cultural transition away from the greedy lifestyle

~ by Brad Raburn on December 22, 2008.