short essay on greed

Essay On Greed | Impacts of Greed on Personal & Professional Life

Greed is one of the deadliest sins of all. It has been there since time immemorial. When you have greed in you, you tend to indulge in it without thinking of its consequences. Greed is a kind of evil that destroys the soul of man.

It affects those who are greedy in personal and professional life. In fact, it destroys minds and sometimes even the whole society.

Short Essay On Greed Is A Rout Of All Evil

Introduction Paragraph

Greed is an effect of materialism. When a man wants to satisfy his desires all the time, he cannot do anything else, but to be greedy for worldly goods and for physical comforts.

In personal life, people tend to be selfish because of greed. Greed leads to fights between human beings. Some people become mean and cruel to others in order to fulfill their own greed.

Body Paragraphs

Greed also affects the professional life. A greedy person can never be a good team player. He always wants to be in the forefront and wants to get all the credit. Such a person is always after self-promotion and is never content with what he has. He is always ready to backstab his own colleagues and friends to get ahead in life. All these things show that greed is a destructive force. It has the power to destroy not only an individual but also the whole society. We should try to overcome greed in our own lives and should also help others to do the same.

Greediness often stems from a feeling of insecurity or lack of self-confidence. People who feel they have to prove something to others or to themselves are often the ones who exhibit greedy behavior. They feel they need to acquire as much as possible to feel content or happy. So, in a way, you could say that greediness is a form of self-absorption.

Greed also leads to a sense of entitlement. When people feel entitled to something, they often feel like they are owed it. And if they don’t get what they feel they are owed, they can become angry or violent. Greed is also closely linked to pride. People who are greedy often have a lot of pride. They think they are better than others and that they deserve more than others. This sense of superiority can lead to conflict and problems in both personal and professional relationships.

Greed is a destructive force, not only to the individual, but also to society as a whole. It is important to be aware of the signs of greed in our own lives and to try to overcome it. And we should also help others to do the same.

In conclusion, Greed is a dangerous emotion that can have disastrous consequences, not just for the individual, but also for society as a whole. We should all be aware of the signs of greed in our own lives and try to overcome it. We can also help others to do the same.

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The Definition and Nature of Human Greed

Categories: Greed Human Nature

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Words: 813 |

Published: Sep 1, 2020

Words: 813 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Works Cited:

Engen, E. (2000). The Laramie Project. Vintage Books.
Hing, D. (2000). The Laramie Project. Vintage Books.
Kaufman, M. (2000). The Laramie Project. Vintage Books.
Peacock, J. (2000). The Laramie Project. Vintage Books.
Schultz, J. (2000). The Laramie Project. Vintage Books.
Tectonic Theater Project. (2000). The Laramie Project. Vintage Books.
Ula, Z. (2000). The Laramie Project. Vintage Books.
"10 Years Later: The Laramie Project and Matthew Shepard's Legacy." (2014). Advocate, 1-5.
Erzen, T. (2008). “Pray the Gay Away”: The Extraordinary Lives of Bible Belt Gays. Beacon Press.
Loffreda, B. (2002). Losing Matt Shepard: Life and Politics in the Aftermath of Anti-gay Murder. Columbia University Press.

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Ethics and Morality

Is greed good, the psychology and philosophy of greed.

Posted October 6, 2014 | Reviewed by Kaja Perina

[Article revised on 2 May 2020.]

Greed is the disordered desire for more than is decent or deserved, not for the greater good but for one’s own selfish interest, and at the detriment of others and society at large. Greed can be for anything, but is most commonly for food, money, possessions, power, fame, status, attention , admiration, and sex.

The origins of greed

Greed often arises from early negative experiences such as parental absence, inconsistency, or neglect. In later life, feelings of anxiety and vulnerability, often combined with low self-esteem , lead the person to fixate on a substitute for the love and security that he or she so sorely lacked. The pursuit of this substitute distracts from negative feelings, and its accumulation provides much needed comfort and reassurance.

If greed is much more developed in human beings than in other animals, this is partly because human beings have the capacity to project themselves far into the future, to the time of their death and even beyond. The prospect of our eventual demise gives rise to anxiety about our purpose, value, and meaning.

In a bid to contain this existential anxiety, our culture provides us with ready-made narratives of life and death. Whenever existential anxiety threatens to surface into our conscious mind, we naturally turn to culture for comfort and consolation. Today, it is so happens that our culture—or lack of it, for our culture is in a state of flux and crisis—places a high value on materialism , and, by extension, on greed.

Our culture’s emphasis on greed is such that people have become immune to satisfaction. Having acquired one thing, they immediately set their sights on the next thing that suggests itself. Today, the object of desire is no longer satisfaction but desire itself.

Can greed be good?

Another theory of greed is that it is programmed into our genes because, in the course of evolution, it has tended to promote survival and reproduction. Without some measure of greed, individuals and communities are more likely to run out of resources, and to lack the means and motivation to innovate and achieve, making them more vulnerable to the vagaries of fate and the designs of their enemies.

Although a blind and blunt force, greed leads to superior economic and social outcomes. In contrast to altruism , which is a mature and refined capability, greed is a primitive and democratic impulse, and ideally suited to our culture of mass consumption. Altruism attracts passing praise, but really it is greed that our society rewards, and that delivers the material goods and economic growth upon which we have come to rely.

Like it or not, our society is fuelled by greed, and without greed would descend into poverty and anarchy. And it is not just our society: greed lies at the bottom of all successful modern and historical societies, and political systems designed to check or eliminate it have all ended in abject failure.

Gordon Gekko from the film Wall Street is especially eloquent on the benefits of greed:

Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge [sic.] has marked the upward surge of mankind.

The economist Milton Friedman argued that the problem of social organization is not to eradicate greed, but to set up an arrangement under which it does the least harm. For Friedman, capitalism is just that kind of system.

But greed is, to say the least, a mixed blessing. People who are consumed by greed become utterly fixated on the object of their greed. Their lives are reduced to little more than a quest to accumulate as much as possible of whatever it is they covet and crave. Even though they have met their every reasonable need and more, they are utterly unable to redirect their drives and desires to other and higher things.

After a time, greed becomes embarrassing, and people who are embarrassed by their greed may take to hiding it behind a carefully crafted persona. For example, people who run for political office because they crave power may tell others (and perhaps also themselves) that what they really want is to help people or serve their country, while decrying all those who, like them selves, crave power for the sake of power. Deception is a common outcome of greed, as are envy and spite.

Greed is also associated with negative psychological states such as stress , exhaustion, anxiety, depression , and despair, and with maladaptive behaviours such as gambling, scavenging, hoarding, trickery, and theft. By overriding reason, compassion, and love, greed loosens family and community ties and undermines the bonds and values upon which society is built.

Greed may drive the economy, but as recent history has made all too clear, unfettered greed can also precipitate a deep and long-lasting economic recession. What’s more, our consumer culture continues to inflict severe damage on the environment , resulting in, among others, deforestation, desertification, ocean acidification, species extinctions, and more frequent and severe extreme weather events. There is a question about whether such greed can be sustainable in the short term, never mind the long term.

Greed and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that healthy human beings have a certain number of needs, and that these needs can be arranged in a hierarchy, with some needs (such as physiological and safety needs) being more primitive or basic than others (such as social and ego needs). Maslow’s so-called ‘hierarchy of needs’ is often presented as a five-level pyramid, with higher needs coming into focus only once lower, more basic needs have been met.

Maslow called the bottom four levels of the pyramid ‘deficiency needs’ because a person does not feel anything if they are met. Thus, physical needs such as eating, drinking, and sleeping are deficiency needs, as are security needs, social needs such as friendship and sexual intimacy , and ego needs such as self-esteem and peer recognition.

On the other hand, Maslow called the fifth level of the pyramid a ‘growth need’ because it enables a person to ‘self-actualize’, that is, to reach his or her highest or fullest potential as a human being. Once people have met all their deficiency needs, the focus of their anxiety shifts to self-actualization, and they begin—even if only at a subconscious or semiconscious level—to contemplate the context and meaning of their life and life in general.

The problem with greed is that it grounds us on one of the lower levels of the pyramid, preventing us from ever reaching the pinnacle of growth and self-actualization. Of course, this is the precise purpose of greed: to defend against existential anxiety, which is the type of anxiety associated with the apex of the pyramid.

Greed and religion

Because it removes us from the bigger picture, because it prevents us from communing with ourselves and with God, greed is strongly condemned by all major religions.

In the Christian tradition, avarice is one of the seven deadly sins. It is understood as a form of idolatry that forsakes the love of God for the love of self and material things, forsakes things eternal for things temporal. In the Divine Comedy , the avaricious are bound prostrate on a floor of cold, hard rock as a punishment for their attachment to earthly goods and neglect of higher things.

In the Buddhist tradition, craving keeps us from the path to enlightenment.

Similarly, in the Bhagavad Gita , Lord Krishna calls covetousness a great destroyer and the foundation of sin:

It is covetousness that makes men commit sin. From covetousness proceeds wrath; from covetousness flows lust, and it is from covetousness that loss of judgment, deception, pride, arrogance, and malice, as also vindictiveness, shamelessness, loss of prosperity, loss of virtue, anxiety, and infamy spring, miserliness, cupidity, desire for every kind of improper act, pride of birth, pride of learning, pride of beauty, pride of wealth, pitilessness for all creatures, malevolence towards all…

The song The Fear by singer and songwriter Lily Allen is a modern, secular version of this tirade.

Here are a few choice lyrics by way of a conclusion:

I want to be rich and I want lots of money

I don’t care about clever I don’t care about funny

…And I’m a weapon of massive consumption

And it’s not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function

…Forget about guns and forget ammunition

‘Cause I’m killing them all on my own little mission

I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore

And I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore

And when do you think it will all become clear?

‘Cause I’m being taken over by The Fear

Neel Burton is author of Heaven and Hell: The Psychology of the Emotions and other books.

Neel Burton, M.D. , is a psychiatrist, philosopher, and writer who lives and teaches in Oxford, England.

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Short Paragraph on Greed (420 Words)

Here is your short paragraph on Greed!

Greed is defined as an excessive desire to posses or acquire more than what you deserves or need especially in terms of material wealth, authority or fame. There is no end to greed.

Greed may be seen in every individual in various forms. For instance, a person wants or desires towards achieving wealth more than what he/ she can take.

Greed aims to seek satisfaction & permanent happiness but leads to temporary happiness.

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Greed makes a person impatient, selfish and conceited which ultimately leads to fear, jealousy and selfishness. For instance, when you work hard and achieve your goals you feel happy. While when you become selfish that all you achieved is only meant to be yours and others do not deserves it at any cost is greed.

Greed leads to frustration and conflicts. However you may enjoy fame, riches, happiness and authority in the beginning but in the long run greed may make you frustrated, anxious, discontent and grumpy by not letting your accumulated wealth go away. Many a time greed brings out the worst person in you making you destructive.

Nobody wants to be with a destructive person. Hence a greedy person becomes lonely & loses ties with people around him. A greedy person fails to understand relationships should be far more valued than wealth. True happiness could not be purchased at any cost but it has to be earned. The consequences of greed differ the way you think. All greed is not equal. Your greed to earn more and losing your job is not good but your greed to earn more and work hard can give you promotion. So it’s good.

However if propelled in a right direction greed can create wonders. For instance, greed can prove to be a driving force by scientists to do research & business persons to expand their business and contribute towards the betterment of the society. Greed can even fuel industrialization and civilization. Without greed our forefathers would have not invented cruises, cars and airplanes which have made our lives much easier today.

Greed benefits everyone. Greed is the foundation towards the growth and development of every nation. It is greed of our revolutionaries which has got our country independence. Sometimes greed can be beneficial to others as well. Mother Teresa was also a greedy woman. Her greed to serve the poor helped them to lead a quality life. Missionaries are also greedy to spread their religious beliefs and make the planet sin free.

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Essay Samples on Greed

The devil and tom walker': destructive power of greed.

Introduction There is a little to a whole lot of greed going on in society and some psychologists believe America is one the most selfish land to be known right now. Greed skill selfish on desire beyond reason. Capitalism makes us wealthy and a lot...

The Devil And Tom Walker

Greed and Selfishness As The Main Reason for the Polluted Problems

Let’s start with the factories that manufacture cotton in Kazakhstan. These manufacturers are, of course, very aware of the effect that their production has on the environment and wildlife but chooses to ignore the issue. In her documentary Stacey Dooley investigates: Are clothes wrecking our...

Selfishness

The Lust for Power in the Play Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Throughout the evolution of mankind, it is evident that power throughout history has greatly affected people and their actions. Accordingly, In the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, one can see that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Macbeth, the main character, is an excellent example of...

Macbeth Power

The Inverse Ratio Between Greed And Personality

People are the synthesis of natural and social relations. Inside a person always have good sides like generous, brave,... and bad sides such as greed, selfish... A good person will refrain from bad things to show his face well. Human personality is a collection of...

Personality

Three Lives and Greed: Phases of This Vile Emotion and Aftermath

The book Three lives has a lot of meanings and themes throughout the entire book. There are three parts to this book, with three different parts of the story. The first part of the story is followed by Anna Federner a German woman whose whole...

Emotional Intelligence
Personal Qualities

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The Big Greed of America in The Big Short

The Big Short is a very informative book about the events leading up to the U.S. Stock market crash of 2008. Michael Lewis tells this story to give a behind the scenes look into the people who saw this historic crash coming with the blind...

The Big Short

The Theme of Redemption In Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"

A timeless theme is a theme for which will never go out of date, but will always stay applicable to the human condition. Audiences understand timeless themes no matter how old or modern the text, because timeless themes are true and connect to the very...

A Christmas Carol

Greed In 'The Necklace' By Guy De Maupassant

Some people know of the seven sins and seven virtues, greed being one of them, and the story “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant, perfectly demonstrates greed. In the story, the main character Mathilde desires and envies others possessions. She is very unhappy with the...

The Necklace

Transformation of Guilt and Greed in Shakespeare's Macbeth

The play Macbeth portrays the physical and psychological consequences of unchecked political ambition on those who desire power solely for themselves. Macbeth was written when Kings were chosen through divine rights and when a patriarchal society was a norm. In contrast, Shakespeare wrote his play...

Macbeth Guilt
William Shakespeare

Best topics on Greed

1. The Devil and Tom Walker’: Destructive Power of Greed

2. Greed and Selfishness As The Main Reason for the Polluted Problems

3. The Lust for Power in the Play Macbeth by William Shakespeare

4. The Inverse Ratio Between Greed And Personality

5. Three Lives and Greed: Phases of This Vile Emotion and Aftermath

6. The Big Greed of America in The Big Short

7. The Theme of Redemption In Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”

8. Greed In ‘The Necklace’ By Guy De Maupassant

9. Transformation of Guilt and Greed in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

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Greed Essay Examples

Greediness and its management: a psychological perspective.

In essay about greediness we will see how greed can be described, how we can combat it and ect. Greed can be described as an intense desire to have everything or more than everyone else. It has been found to cause problems even in deep-rooted...

Greed as the Driving Force of Capitalism

In today’s society there hasn’t been an alternative way besides a collective economic benefit that would work in our economic system. That’s because the world runs on greed. No matter how unfair it may seem to those who are less fortunate than those of upper...

The Theme of "Greed is Evil" in Scarface and Why Greed is not Bad

Scarface, a true American Classic is one of the most viewed and loved movies of the 20th Century. The movie bases itself on the success and downfall, including the poetic justice, of its protagonist, Tony Montana. It relies on the idea that greed eventually destroys...

A Theme of Greed in the Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice was believed to be written in either 1596 or 1597 by one of the most significant and influential writers, William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest English writer in history. his category of brilliance shows in his 37 plays...

Consumption and Greed as Crucial Themes in Spirited Away

Spirited Away is an animated film about a 10-year-old girl, who leaves her old life behind and is about to enter a new life (town). Chihiro and her parents are driving to a new house. On their way to the house, her dad takes the...

Living a Live in Selfishness and Greed

An examined life has different meanings for each individual, I am not to say someone life is pointless, yet I believe an unexamined life is rooted in selflessness and giving back. Is it really worth living when you live a selfish life? You create happiness...

Corruption and Greed in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

William Shakespeare is a 17th century playwright, notorious for writing plays whose themes are often relevant in today's 21st century societies. The theme ‘ambition corrupts power’ is seen frequently in modern politics and governments and walks parallel with the theme of ‘greed’. Both themes are...

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