I’m thinking about this now not only because of the headlines detailing corporate greed and avarice, but because I’m in the midst of vacating an apartment building that is owned by a landlord who could not care less that the place is infested with toxic mold and who will probably force at least two of us to take him to court. Obviously, in his mind, he owns the road and everyone else can go to hell. Or to the hospital, as long as he doesn’t have to pay the tab. Of course, in the long run, his penny-pinching is going to cost him more, but I don’t think he gets that yet.
My point is that greed starts on smaller levels and filters up. No one has ever heard of my landlord, but he operates according to the same selfish agenda that guides Ken Lay, the executives of WorldCom and all the others who are only out for themselves.
There has always been greed in the world, there have always been selfish people, but it’s now become a virus that is as toxic as the mold I’m running away from. When did we decide that greed was a good religion to follow? More to the point, when did we decide that greed has anything to do with wealth?
If you’ve ever read any philosophical or metaphysical writings about wealth, you have inevitably come across the phrase “poverty consciousness.” The idea is that, even if you have millions of dollars, if you horde, cheat and obsess about money, you are by definition poor. Money really has nothing to do with wealth-not really. Wealth is a state of mind. Some of the poorest people I know are the people who have vast amounts of money. By contrast, I know some people who are working hard to try and earn more, who are always a bit short, but never hold back or act greedy. As far as I’m concerned, they are wealthy.
Remember Ken Lay’s wife weeping on television about how much she and her husband have lost? Was there anyone who looked at her and thought, “Ah, there’s a prosperous, successful woman?” She may have been sitting in an elegant living room, surrounded by antiques, but all I saw was poverty-and not the kind she was trying to claim.
My paternal grandmother used to go visit tuberculosis patients in a sanitarium. She didn’t have much money, but she felt that giving was important. She would not only give of herself, she would bring to the patients whatever she could afford-sometimes a note pad or pencils. Maybe just a card. She died when I was quite young, so my memories of her are limited and a bit grainy, like an old movie watched long ago. But when I think of her, I don’t think of her financial limitations, I think of the richness of her heart and the generosity of her spirit. In the ways that count, she was wealthy.
I am certainly no Alan Greenspan; I have no expertise in predicting the financial future of this country. But I believe I’m right when I say that, as long as so many people are-metaphorically speaking-driving around with a bumper sticker that reads, AS A MATTER OF FACT, I DO OWN THE ROAD, we will never truly be a wealthy country.
We will have a healthy, strong economy only when we learn that greed might be an efficient way to make money quickly, but it will never make you wealthy.
