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| Shoddy Short Cuts |
Greed for the unearned is bad, but if you only want what you deserve, that too is greed, because when you do not get what you deserve, you feel a righteous sense of indignation. A company had 1000 units order and planning, but boss wanted more 2000+ units, which is double. When the company increased capacity and resources, competitor cropped up and eaten away the potential orders. End of the year company left with lot of inventory and huge wasteful resources and a huge loss, which is like killing the goose that lays golden eggs. Greed is ‘an overwhelming desire to have more of something such as money than is actually needed.’ We want more because we aspire for a better quality of life, and we do not want to worry about not having. I make use of my skills, time and energy to get what I need and wanted. However, if I satisfy that motivation in an immoral or illegal way, or when I place that above any other things that are more valuable in my life such as family and my faith, then I am in deep trouble. While money and power tends to become the prime mover for almost everything we do today, it nevertheless should not be regarded as god as some of us would.
Marcus Licinius Crassus (115 BC - 53 BC): While Marcus Crassus was still a young man, he became obsessed with wealth which became the main feature of his character. He rented land and bought slaves just to trade them later on at a better price. An inexhaustible source of enrichment for Crassus was offered by Rome's difficulty in providing housing for everyone. Ancient Rome was overcrowded and buildings extremely exposed to fire which was one of the most frequent causes for having entire neighborhoods destroyed. But this situation was favorable for speculation. Crassus had organized teams of firefighters, saving the houses from fire and then he bought the burned houses for a small price and after some repairs, he rented them. Greed proved fatal to him as Crassus got killed during a disastrous military campaign when he wanted to conquer the Kingdom of Parthia, famous for its wealth.
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| No short cuts please |
The Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908):Although she started her ‘career’ as the whore of the Chinese Emperor, meanwhile she managed to become ‘de facto’ the head of this large Asian country for nearly 50 years. She became famous for the 3,000 boxes of jewelry she owned and used the money of the Chinese Navy to build a marble boat where she was dining using 150 gold chop sticks.
Imelda Marcos (1929):Tagalog wife of President Ferdinand Marcos, is suspected of having stolen, along with her husband over 5 billion dollars of Philippines wealth. When she and her husband were deposed from power in 1986, authorities found in Imelda's lockers in Malacañang (presidential palace) over 3000 pairs of shoes, size 37. Imelda's extravagance was beyond any acceptable limit. During an expedition to purchase real estate in New York, she decided to buy the Empire State Building, but eventually gave up. Evaluated at about $750 million, the building did not exceed her financial possibilities, but she said it was an acquisition too glaring. Instead, she spent fifty-one to get Crown Building and sixty million for Herald Center and two other apartments in Manhattan.
William H. Vanderbilt (1821-1884):Vanderbilt was an American rich man of the nineteenth century who was perhaps the richest and most powerful man of his times. He controlled the largest rail network in the world and became famous with his famous words: ‘The public be damned! I only care about my property.’ Let us not become history while pursuing greed and do not enter into shoddy short cuts to earn more money, power, which is a limitless desire to have more of something. It is however critical, that one does not equate success and wealth with greed. As Mother Teresa once said, ‘If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed one.’ People without means contribute generously of their time and skills every day, yet others do not. Greed does not discriminate between rich and poor. There are many ways in which greed rears its ugly head every day.
