January 7th 2016

Having in yesterday’s entry considered the lunatic behaviour of the disappointed aspirants to the nomination as candidate for the Fianna Fáil Party in the upcoming general election I try to understand what prompts these people. Most folk who use logic as their yardstick would have you believe that a life in politics is no life at all. Family considerations go out the window as does a social life. For every one constituent you satisfy there are another ten who are disappointed. When you go to the doors of the common people you can expect the general salutation, regardless of which party you purport to represent,

“A plague on both your houses”.

So why do these people hunger for a life in an occupation that is despised, derided and universally mistrusted? It must be greed; greed for power! And is greed not defined as one of the Seven Deadly Sins? Let us consider if this human trait is really a sin or just normal behaviour. The word to describe ‘greed’ when I was interested in such matters was ‘covetousness’. This word featured prominently in the ‘Ten Commandments’.

Covetousness is defined as a;

 “Feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another”.

On the other hand ‘greed’ is defined as;

“Excessive consumption of or desire for food, gluttony, excessive desire, as for wealth or power”.

How do we fare when we compare the two definitions?

While it could be construed that ‘covetousness’ and ‘greed’ are essentially the same there would appear to be some subtle differences. While greed is manifest as senseless, immediate and uncontrolled its brother covetousness would appear to be more rational, calculating and desirous of a more long term ambition. The ninth and tenth Commandments decree that thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods or wife and yet to aspire to and indeed achieve these dubious ends is often regarded as success in human terms. Yet there is a certain premeditated cunning inherent in these objectives. Does this render covetousness sinful? As they say in “who wants to be a millionaire”, ask the audience!

In the case of the Prodigal the ongoing demonstration of greed worldwide is a curse and one of the most destructive forces on the planet. ‘Much wants more’ is a very old saying and still rings true. People globally believe that the accumulation and display of material wealth somehow gives them an advantage over those who have less and therefore become inferior or subservient. It says in the bible or somewhere that

“what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world and lose his immortal soul”?

This statement presupposes the existence of an entity called the soul and gives the soul an enormous value that in terms of real significance outweighs every other entity of calculable consequence. The essential question is; does greed as we understand it cause damage and distress to ordinary mortals and can it therefore be rightly defined as a deadly sin?

The answer is yes.

When our other friends in the animal world get enough for sustenance they don’t hanker after an excess of what might be available. To desire and aspire to gain what is totally superfluous to one’s requirements is damaging to the aspirant and the rest of society. If the bounty of this world is distributed unevenly because of man’s greed then his fellow man is inevitably the victim. If the excess of one leads to the shortage of another then greed becomes the real pariah in society.

The so-called developed nations of the world have a suicide rate that is ten times greater that the ‘third world’. How can we justify or explain this phenomenon? The explanation to the Prodigal is simple. It is my absolute belief that the vast majority of unhappiness in this world is caused by extravagant and unattainable expectations. In our affluent society we believe that we are ‘entitled’ to realize wealth and human comforts which we have never achieved for ourselves as individuals but feel totally entitled to inherit. When the situation comes to pass where these self-assumed privileges do not materialise then we feel cheated. Insufficiency in those advantages, leading to self-doubt and the deeming of ourselves to be somehow denied of what is rightfully ours, often causes relegation into frustration and despair wherein the outlet of suicide becomes a real alternative. In the so-called third world such expectations do not exist.

It must be construed therefore that if the only expectation a man has is to get enough food to keep him alive for this day then the level of disappointment is greatly diminished. My old pal Mahatma Gandhi decreed that;

 “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed.”

I think that the father of India had it right.

The Prodigal is convinced that perceived greed leads to perceived inequality which in turn leads to dissent and social upheaval. The haves look down on the have-nots and the perception of the powerful depriving the less well-off has led to every revolution in history. The legacy of subjugation of our own nation should be sufficient to demonstrate how the greed of our nearest neighbour has caused a millennium of resentment and an eternal desire to realize the realignment of what is no longer possible. In truth, it must be conceded that greed is without doubt not alone a deadly sin but must be recorded as the deadliest of the “Seven Deadly Sins”.

If this state is the bedrock of political activity, to hell with them all!