Avarice, greed and materialism

Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.

~ Henry David Thoreau, an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist.

In the arrogantly opulent homes of the shameless: the rich, mighty, and powerful; the sickening fragrance of abundance is ever-present.

The people living in such homes live apart from those living in the ragged edge of starvation; the tired and hungry: the poor - dirt poor; the people who only have an abundance of poverty, hunger, and shame.

Being wealthy is not a sin. It cannot be, in a capitalist market economy. Enjoying the fruits of one's own labour is one's prerogative and I have no right to chastise those who choose to live luxuriously.

But, what is immoral is that the affluent, forceful, and potent beings have little use for those not of their class; and do not consider they exist, unless and until some need arises, which they themselves cannot accomplish on their own. At such instances, they would toss a few pieces of gold - a pittance in their reckoning, the worth of the poor to them - accompanied by many derisive glances, to those who help achieve their wants: a flick of the hand, some small change, and the thought no more of those whom they consider wretched.

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Yet the selfishness of man turns him into a fool, and makes him believe that security lies in possessing an abundance of wealth.

Thus, in pursuit of his belief, guided by selfishness and not ideals, in order to possess such wealth, he embarks upon plunder; be it in the name of socialism, or altruism.

As a result, sleight and deceit becomes his hallmark. Man begins to walk over others to get what he wants. Thereby, by this very nature, he becomes not deserving of all that he wants. Realising the danger of not being entitled to what he has plundered, he covets power: the only tool, he thinks, that will give him added security. The powerful think that the extent of the franchise of power extends to plunder. Thus, plunder becomes a way of life for the powerful of the society and they create for themselves in the course of time, a legal system that authorises it and a moral code that glorifies it.

In one form or the other, it is simply bribery, theft or swindling - which the penal code defines, anticipates, punishes; but ignores in most instances because of the power of the powerful. The battle against illegal plunder has been, fought since the beginning of the world; but has not succeeded to date to win the war, though it may have won a few battles.

Long before the Revolution of 1848 in France, an extended period of economic difficulties made the population particularly restless, and there was a revolution in 1787.

This Revolution took shape when the controller general of finances, Treasury Secretary in modern terminology, Charles-Alexandre de Calonne, arranged the summoning of an assembly of "notables" - prelates, great noblemen, and a few representatives of the bourgeoisie - in February 1787 to propose reforms designed to eliminate the budget deficit by increasing the taxation. This gave birth to the revolution that reached its climax first in 1789 but continued to simmer until 1799 - long before the appearance even of socialism itself.

This came as a warning to countries of the world: that prolonged poverty brought about by plundering the resources of a nation has its limits of tolerance.

In consequence of this, all nations of the world had provided police, judges, gendarmes, prisons, dungeons, and scaffolds; all for the purpose of, fighting illegal plunder.

The law itself conducts this war, but plunder remains entrenched in all societies, in all parts of the world, only the degree varying; systematically threatening the foundations of society.

Why is this so? To examine this, we need to look at the avarice, greed, and materialism of the mortal man who amasses all what he considers wealth, as if he is immortal.

It is this preoccupation of such persons with possessions; a purposeless activity that is akin to a phase of death, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.

"Any so-called material thing that you want is merely a symbol: you want it not for itself, but because it will content your spirit for the moment" said Mark Twain: Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist.

We humans need a certain amount of wealth and material things to lead a comfortable life: a life in which, we earn honestly, eat responsibly, sleep peacefully, dress attractively, function without fear, trust correctly, act with thought, and learn without end. To this end, wealth and materialism serves a purpose, but the desire to become rich beyond limit is the essence of human greed.

To what purpose all the riches of the world if such riches cannot buy back our past, or assure even the future. Thus, wealth is but an illusion created by human avarice that itself is a form of human folly. Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.

In a nation where the few own much and are locked into privilege; where government is by the richest for the richest; for the corporations, the bankers, the land speculators, and the exploiters of labour; the majority will remain poor, and in want.

As long as the fair demands of such majority remains denied; as long as the ownership and control of their livelihoods are set at naught; and where the majority of people remain oppressed in order that a small remnant may live in ease; a nation shall not have peace. Peace and tranquillity are the result of a contented people and not that of a people who would prefer to die rather than remain wretched.

I do not advocate that we make the poor rich by making the rich poor. In fact, selfishness and greed, applied with vision and wisdom, are the two great pillars of human progress on which many great civiliswwations have risen.

"If it weren't for greed, intolerance, hate, passion, and murder, you would have no works of art, no great buildings, no medical science, no Mozart, no Van Gough, no Muppets, and no Louis Armstrong." - Jasper Fforde, the British novelist, in The Big Over Easy.

However, it takes the courage of benevolence above hoarded gold for the world to have a semblance of equality between humans - not necessarily equality of wealth but al least equality of freedom from hunger.

Hence, it is time that the world at large, and the class that has the power to rob upon a large scale as well as the power to control the government to legalise such robbery, take note. Doing nothing for others is the undoing of, the self.

See you this day next week. Until then, keep thinking; keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities.

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