By Paula Bianchi –

Throughout history, greed has been the driving force behind many committed evils. It doesn’t matter what century you look at because people have always fallen into two categories: those who share, and those who don’t. This is based on our personality type and to what extent we’ll go, to get what we want.

We see corporate greed every day when we go to the grocery store and see how much more they’re charging us for groceries, which they now sell in much smaller packages. The greed of corporate America does its level best to pay their workers the lowest bottom line, so the CEO and his cronies can keep as much of the profits as they can.

Greed is one of the seven deadly sins, and history has shown us how people have suffered at the hands of business owners taking advantage of them. In the beginning, they used some of us as slave labor. We worked to be fed and have a roof over our heads. During the late 1930’s, unions were established to make sure people weren’t exploited for their work and that they received a decent wage with benefits for their families.

Many companies were not happy with unions and did their best to keep their workers from joining. Why, you may ask? Because, then they’ll be forced to take part of their profits, which they earned off the backs of their employees, and invest it in their workers, but they find loop holes and other means to keep their bottom line at the expense of their employees. This mentality, through the years, has created a society of the rich getting richer while the rest of us are getting nowhere.

This made me wonder; what was the purpose of greed, and the many actions associated with it. Greed is possibly used to deprive others of potential means like basic survival and comfort or future opportunities accordingly. They obstruct us by insidious and tyrannical ways or in ways with an otherwise negative connotation. A fancy way of saying they want to keep us down.

They don’t want us to get too smart because they risk losing control over us, so they make it harder for the middle and lower class to get an education by making Colleges unaffordable for them. When they raise the prices on everything we need in life, but deny us a raise in pay to meet the new cost of living, they make it so we can barely keep our heads above water. Many of us are sucked under the water by the debt we obtained while trying to make ends meet.

People, across the globe, have a choice every day on how they’re going to achieve their level of greediness because greed can make people commit unthinkable acts against anyone they feel is standing in their way. People with extreme greed lack empathy for others, and they suffer no remorse for the deeds they’ve done to fulfill their greed.

We see greed come out within a family after the death of a family member. People show their true colors during these times causing huge fights over money or possessions because they want more than their share of the pie. They want the whole damn thing, when in reality, they may deserve none of it. When it comes to family, a death isn’t the only time we see greed.

How many times have you heard about one family member screwing another family member out of money? They commit this deed, then have the nerve to feel affronted when the person, who was left out, separates themselves from those who screwed them over. With every action, there’s a reaction. If you truly loved this person, you would understand why they’re so upset. It’s hard to believe they ever cared for or loved the person they screwed over, in light of their actions, but it’s never too late to set things right again. It’s a matter of choosing right from wrong. Between picking a choice that comes from being fair or from being ruthless.

Friends fall along the same lines. This is why we need to choose our friends wisely. When friends become partners in a business, it starts out like a dream, but all it takes is for one of the friends to feel like they’re being slighted, feeling like they aren’t getting as much of the profits as their partner is, then there’s trouble in paradise. Greed kicks in which may end the partnership and the business they worked so hard on. Some friends will steal from their friends, then have no problem looking them in the eye and deny their deed. We can’t control what others do, but we can control how we’re going to react.

When it comes to life, we should try to get our heart’s desire, but never at the expense of another, whether they’re family, friends or strangers. Our goal is to get it thru ethical and moral ways because that lifts your energy. If you choose to be or act greedy, by stepping on others or hurting them to get what you want, then you have to live with the consequences of your choices. Sometimes after we get what we thought we wanted; we’re not always happy with the negative reality it leaves us with.

Like the bible says, “You reap what you sow.” We have to be here on Earth for, hopefully, a long time. Take a moment each day to check your words, thoughts, and deeds. If we can be mindful of them, and use them in a positive way, the rewards we’ll reap will be much greater.

In my next mind games article, I’ll talk about addictions. Thanks for the visit. Bye for now.

Email: remyel@hotmail.com