Results for: Greed

Answered

What is greed?

-excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves avarice: reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for w…ealth (personified as one of the deadly sins) - Greed denotes desire to acquire wealth or possessions beyond the needs of the individual, especially when this accumulation of possession denies others legitimate needs or access to those or other resources. For example, amassing a large collection of http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Seashell would not be considered greed, unless in doing so, the needs of others were jeopardized. Essential to the concept of greed is the awareness that the needs of others are denied, thus http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Rivalrous goods exemplify greed while non-rivalrous goods may not. Greed also often involves using wealth to gain power over others, sometimes by denying wealth or power. Some desire to increase one's wealth is nearly universal and acceptable in any culture, but this simple http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Want is not considered greed. Greed is the extreme form of this desire, especially where one desires things simply for the sake of http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Owning them (such as the desire to have great amounts of money not to purchase objects, but possession or the money is an end in itself). Greed typically entails acquiring material possessions at the expense of other person's welfare (for example, a father buying himself a new car rather than fix the roof of his family's home) or otherwise reflect priorities. Coveting another person's goods is usually called http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Envy, a word commonly confused with http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Jealousy. The two words denote opposite forms of greed. We may envy and wish to have the possessions or qualities of another, but we jealously guard the possessions or qualities we believe we have and refuse to share these with others. Greed for food or http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Alcoholism, combined with excessive indulgence in them, is called http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Gluttony. Excessive greed for and indulgence in http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Sex is called http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Lust, although this term no longer carries as negative connotations as it once did.A http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Woodcut by http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Ugo_da_Carpi, is entitled"http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Hercules Chasing Avarice from the http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Temple_of_the_Muses." http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wdct/ho_20.24.76.htmhttp://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas metaphorically described the sin of Avarice as "http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Mammon being carried up from http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Hell by a wolf, coming to inflame he human heart with Greed". Proponents of http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Laissez-faire http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Capitalism sometimes argue that greed should not be considered a negative trait and should instead be embraced, as they claim that greed is a profoundly benevolent force in human affairs, as well as a necessary foundation for the capitalist system. Critics have argued this definition confuses greed with http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Self-interest, which can be benign. (MORE)

Rikveda

11,731 Contributions

Answered

In Plural Nouns

What is human greed?

Answer Human Greed is that quality of an individual which drives him/her to take more than they need. The person, who knows contentment, eats to live but the gree… (MORE)

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In Literature & Language

What is the philosophy of greed?

There are many different philosophical views of greed. One major philosophy of greed is that when people have a lot it is till never enough.

Sapengro

186 Contributions

Answered

In Religion & Spirituality

Why is greed bad?

Greed is bad because it undermines society, eventually destroying it. Society, in this case, is all life, human or otherwise. When you are greedy, i.e. taking more than you ne…ed or hoarding your supplies, you prohibit your brothers from having what they need. If your brother is unable to satisfy his physical and mental needs, he suffers. Ecosystems really are only as strong as the weakest link. When one member of society suffers, he places a strain on the rest of society (read: disease, poor productivity, over-production causing poor health and fatigue, nominal education, increased propensity to breed, unattractive, and monetary drain), which unfairly taxes everyone (because of your greed). To try and compensate for your hoarding of a resource, people then overproduce, mine, et cetera, which causes an influx in the value of the commodity. The value, initially high, drops because people force abundance on this thing. The overpopulation either leaches from the environment (over-farming) or exhausts a natural resource (trees, copper), which strains environmental and interpersonal relationships. As a relevant example, companies such as DeBeers hoard diamonds, which are not all that rare, especially for the price. This extremely tight, profit driven tendency to restrict the flow of diamonds into the commercial economy drives the prices of the rocks up. People are regrettably willing to pay the extreme price for the diamonds because they are "rare." In turn, rogue miners find ways to black market diamonds (blood diamonds, but as a great cost to the quality of human life (death). Very simply put, if companies were not so greedy, people would not be so dead. If you, instead of being greedy and taking more than you need, share with your brother, you each meet your basic needs. Chances are he has a surplus of something you need, and when you both share, you both benefit (prisoners dilemma, behavioral economics). When people's basic physical needs are met, they are able to pursue higher needs such as education and spirituality/philosophy (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs), which improves a society's abilities to function. Moreover, since people policies of self control and regulation, they do not over-burden the plants, animals, soil, water, et cetera, leading to a healthier planet and people. People who practice greed hurt everyone, especially their progeny, as greed is horribly short-sighted. Another Point: Greed is also bad because it stems from, and strengthens, the mistaken belief that your personal value and identity relate to the things (objects, procedures, people) you possess and control, instead of Who You Are and What You Do. It promotes the idea the the little 'me' that wanders around in this temporary shell is my True Self, and undermines the 'I'; the True Relationship and Living Identity with all that is, and thereby supports, strengthens and promotes the Fear that is born of loss and separation from the One. "I" and "you" are but the lattices in the niches of a lamp, through which the One Light shines. (Mahmud Shabistari) (MORE)

Davepx

1,350 Contributions

Answered

In Economics

Why is greed good?

It isn't. But in classical economic thought the rational pursuit of self-interest tempered by social responsibility adds to general prosperity by expanding production and exch… (MORE)

Drsundaram

3 Contributions

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In Religion & Spirituality

How do greed affect you?

Because it is from Ego. Any thing of Ego is not contended. Always wanting more and more.

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In Greek and Roman Mythologies

Who is the God of greed?

ploutus, or plutus, was the god of wealth. The god was usually depicted as a boy holding a cornucopia filled with grain in the company of his mother Demeter.He was blinded by … (MORE)

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In Crusades

How did greed have to do with the crusades?

The Crusaders were greedy because they wanted power and did not obey the pope because of there greed.

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In Uncategorized

Greed is a curse what is greed here?

Greed is a curse, so in this phrase, greed is the curse of wanting more than is needed. A curse of greed might lead to over reaching or overextending, which can be disastr… (MORE)

Don Dfoofnik

4,303,494 Contributions

There are three kinds of answers: ones that are mostly right, ones that are mostly wrong, and those that once were right but now are wrong.

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In Grammar

What is the adjective for greed?

The adjective related to the noun greed is greedy. It creates the related noun greediness.