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July 19, 2020
- What it is
- The theme of greed in foreign literature
- In Russian literature
- Greed and other vices
Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog.
Among the vices of mankind, greed is one of the most unpleasant.
Even this word sounds alarming and predatory.
Greed - what is it?
In reality, there are many vices that poison human existence. But one of the most insidious and sometimes even terrible is greed. It causes greed, anger and self-interest in a person. But at the same time, it is acquisitiveness that causes suffering from unfulfilled desires. Greed prevents a person from becoming happy. It leads away from true values. It is difficult to overcome; it takes away the will and desire for kindness. This vice sows discord and abuse.
Difference between greed and stinginess
The meaning of the word “greed” can be defined as an abnormally strong desire to obtain as much financial wealth as possible. Stinginess is the desire to spend as little money as possible to achieve some goal or make a purchase. The nature of a stingy person is significantly different from the nature of a greedy person.
The confusion between the two concepts occurs because the ultimate goal of people suffering from these vices is the same. We are talking about increasing your financial wealth.
If we talk about these concepts not as vices, but as personality traits, then psychologists tend to agree that sooner or later they unite in an individual, forming a powerful negative symbiosis. The result will be a categorical reluctance to part with accumulated wealth. The need to increase it can become an overvalued idea, leading to the destruction of a person’s moral character, since he will use any, even immoral, opportunity to satisfy his financial thirst.
In the process of communicating with a person, it is important to learn to understand when we are talking about frugality, sound prudence and economy, and when about greed and stinginess - exaggerated forms of these useful qualities.
What vices does greed create?
Greed – what kind of mental “illness” is this? And what other vices does it cause in humans? First of all, greed entails self-interest. This is an insatiable desire to benefit from everything. A person does not even disdain the troubles of others. There is no place in the soul for compassion or pity, there is only the desire to gain benefit. But, as you know, happiness is when you give, not when you receive. That is why self-interest has never brought true peace to anyone.
Another vice that accompanies greed is envy. It depletes and “eats” a person from the inside. Don't forget about greed. Reluctance to share repels a greedy person. In his quest to save all his savings, he remains lonely. It is these vices that are the reason that throughout the history of mankind, blood has been shed over gold and other riches.
More about greed
This is a personal trait that simultaneously contains both the desire to receive more new benefits and the reluctance to share accumulated wealth. In a figurative sense, greed can mean passion, an unbearable desire, for example, as in the expressions “greed for life”, “greedily absorb.”
However, greed is not only a character trait, but also a feeling. That is, an emotional component that is objective in nature. As a rule, all people experience a similar feeling, some less often, some more often. But not everyone can admit this.
Like other emotions, the feeling of greed is difficult to describe, but it is important to note that it is often accompanied by emotional distress. It is also accompanied by a number of vegetative manifestations, such as strong heartbeat, increased breathing, muscle tension, and increased blood pressure. When such a feeling is repeated frequently, a person's health may suffer.
Symptoms of acquisitiveness
There is perhaps no more painful vice than greed. Synonyms for this word - “acquisitiveness”, “gluttony” and “greed”, completely complement the current picture. Sometimes the pettiness of such people reaches the extreme. A greedy person always carefully calculates the cost of even the most insignificant purchase. He will not leave the cash register without counting all the change. And if there is not enough money there, he will create a scandal and take it away at any cost.
Greedy people talk about money all the time. They complain about their shortage. They envy and spoil those who earn more than them. Moreover, such a person may well occupy a good position and be wealthy. Greedy people buy the cheapest clothes, food, they never spend on entertainment. Even if they have a hobby, it is always associated with the idea of saving money. For example, a person prone to money-grubbing can buy a dacha, so he can provide himself with food and not spend money, or he sews clothes, although at the same time altering old trousers and sweaters.
Greedy people will not miss the opportunity to get money illegally; they always take bribes and do not disdain blackmail and theft. Such a person will constantly demand to borrow money from his relatives, but he will not give it back. This constantly provokes scandals. At the same time, he can steal from a relative or friend who lives worse than himself. Acquisitiveness can be taken to extremes. Greedy people will not disdain to search garbage barrels, they hope to find there something that will allow them to save money, for example, old furniture, clothes or metal that can be sold for money.
What do greedy people want?
The problem is that such people are blinded by greed and only dream of a level of well-being that is not justified by real needs. His love for money becomes pathological. For a greedy person, having wealth matters, but not for a specific goal in one’s life or achieving a high level of family well-being, but simply for the sake of money.
Greedy people do nothing without selfish motives. They measure everything in terms of money. They are overcome by greed and stinginess.
In addition, a greedy person may strive to become famous and discover new experiences. Young dreamers and adventurous individuals are consumed by this feeling. And there is nothing reprehensible here.
Causes of "gluttony"
Greed – is it a habit or a mental illness? One thing is for sure, the problems of money-grubbing have very long roots, to be more precise, they grow from childhood. If a child grew up in a poor family and was constantly denied purchases, citing the lack of money as an excuse, then, most likely, it is material values that will become the determining factor in his adult life. He will rely on the experience of his parents. And to any request for a purchase he will answer: “No money!” He only gains confidence when there are bills in his wallet. But one problem remains: a greedy person does not have a feeling of satiety; he always has little money.
Another reason for the emergence of acquisitiveness in a person is a clear family pattern of behavior. If mom or dad constantly put money in the sheets, saved on everything, avoided spending and always tried to grab something for free, the child adopts this behavior, considering it the only correct one.
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ABOUT ENVY, ABOUT STUPIDITY AND GREED
All the pleasures and luxuries bestowed by high wealth, imprinted from their possession by the foggy consciousness of a fool, will turn out to be pitiful in comparison with the happiness of inspiration of Cervantes, writing his Don Quixote in a cramped prison.
The absence of goods that a person never thought about possessing does not constitute a deprivation for him; he feels comfortable without them, whereas someone else, who has many times more opportunities and benefits, feels unhappy if he does not have something and what he feels the need for.
The source of dissatisfaction is attempts to increase the need - in a stream of progressive greed.
The existing state that bestows prosperity should be looked at as protection from all kinds of misfortunes, and not as a means of increasing the surrounding luxury.
A person who is confident in his material well-being behaves independently, he does not know how to kowtow and, perhaps, lays claim to talent, not realizing how insignificant he is in the eyes of the mediocrity that prevails in Our World, languishing in the attempts of attacks of greed.
Whatever a person is, he is first of all, and primarily, for himself.
If it is of little value to itself, then it is not worth much at all.
All "glittering" celebrations and presentations are false for one reason only: they contradict the sorrows and misery of the main part of human society. The contrast only emphasizes the true state of Our World.
The purpose of all festive processions, fireworks, illuminations, shouts of jubilation... is for the surrounding majority to believe in the truth of the joy of jubilation of the performers of such an action and to try to join in the state of jubilation for no reason.
This creates an external appearance that forms a false idea of the values of life.
The artificial world of the “Plyushkins” created in this way, with false ideas about the values of the Soul, kills the spiritual perfection of the individual and gives rise to a gloomy state of the wretched soul, reinforced by images of a certain orientation.
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If a person reports, in his environment, about interesting events that occur to him in everyday life, then he is usually envied.
However, it is preferable to “envy” this person’s ability to perceive Our World, which gives the noticed event or phenomenon that interest and that meaning - as it is reflected by him and expressed in a public message.
One and the same event seems deeply interesting to a person who has shown insight, but to an empty, not spiritually liberated person: a boring, everyday occurrence.
One should envy not the fact that someone had an incident, but the powerful imagination of an eyewitness that penetrated into the essence of what happened and turned a supposedly ordinary event into something beautiful and unusual.
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GREED AND ENVY - sisters!
Envy in a person has a natural nature and at the same time it is a vice.
People's envy shows how unhappy they feel.
Envy is the enemy of happiness.
He who is annoyed with a happier person will never be happy. You should think more often about those who have to live worse, about overcoming the inevitable vicissitudes of fate, than about those who, in your opinion, got a lucky “ticket” to own a happier lot.
Those who are envied have to completely avoid contact with envious people, which imposes significant inconvenience and can even be unbearable.
Anyone who feels the strength for high, noble deeds should not get carried away and immerse themselves in personal benefits and concerns to such an extent that they block access to improvement.
In other words - for the sake of life itself - to renounce its basic meaning.
What's wrong with greed?
So what harm does greed bring to a person? The meaning of the word implies obsession with money. What does this mean? Any insanity is detrimental to the psyche. The personality suffers and is distorted. It is destroyed and degraded. Moral values are replaced by material ones. But as our ancestors noted, money cannot bring happiness. They are only a means to achieving what you want, but not the final goal itself. Accumulating a large amount of finances causes fears and brings worries. A person dooms himself to life “in a golden cage.” His thoughts are spinning in circles. The only thing he cares about is where to find even more money and not lose what he has saved. He is constantly afraid of being robbed.
Such people are not able to give. In addition, they show greed in sales, making money even on this. A greedy person takes loans. He falls into financial slavery. Oddly enough, he doesn't initially think about percentages. For him, a loan is a way to make a purchase without spending what he has already saved. But tragedy strikes when bills have to be paid. The paradox of greed is that a person does not become richer, on the contrary, he becomes poorer. After all, poverty is not when there is little money, it is when there is constantly not enough money.
What did Pushkin and Gogol think about this?
All of these human characteristics are very aptly described by A.S. Pushkin in “The Miserly Knight”. The protagonist's ultimate pleasure lies in his "lucky day" when he can put a handful of gold coins into the "sixth chest, not yet full." But his desires are not satisfied with this, he is not satiated with them. As long as he lives in the world, the stingy knight cannot get rid of the desire to accumulate more and more gold, filling his chests with it.
N.V. Gogol in “Dead Souls” brought out such vivid characters as the utter miser Plyushkin and the greedy money-lover Chichikov. The writers demonstrated how the desire to live richly from a normal human desire can turn into a very obsessive, overvalued idea, become a kind of mania that replaces human reason with blind passion.
Consequences of money-grubbing
Greed and greed are addictions. Of course, money-grubbing cannot but affect family relationships. A greedy person always tries to cut costs. He saves on everything and everyone. Trying to accumulate as much money as possible, he deprives his children of clothing and food. But it’s one thing to save money for a new home, cutting the family budget, and quite another thing to save money just for the sake of its quantity. People suffering from acquisitiveness do not have specific goals. They simply keep their finances, denying themselves and their loved ones everything.
Greedy people almost always have problems in relationships with others. Nobody wants to deal with them. Such a person has no friends. The team doesn't like him. A person suffering from greed will never chip in on gifts for colleagues. But at the same time, he will always attend dinners that others have dumped on. And he will be offended if they don’t let him in. After all, it is beneficial to celebrate, as they say, for free.
What does greed lead to?
A striking example is the holding of “Black Fridays” in supermarkets. Hoarding is manifested to the highest degree here. Such events are held under the motto “get more and cheaper.” People turn into a herd of maddened animals, galloping over the heads of others to grab any product, as long as it is cheap. The exploitation of greedy buyers benefits the owners of greed on a different scale, who produce goods. Receiving benefits stimulates the development of this vice in all factors of the production chain of modern consumer society.
How to overcome greed?
Is it possible to overcome greed? The meaning of this vice makes it clear that a person has false values and guidelines. Money is everything to him! But in reality, people begin their pursuit of material values when they cannot find happiness. Therefore, in order to free yourself from acquisitiveness, you need to understand that true wealth is spiritual. Happiness is within us, and a person can only know it by sharing. It does not depend on the amount of money in the account and gold on the neck, ears and fingers. Generosity has always been a counterbalance to greed. Only by giving something can you make your life easier.
To get rid of money-grubbing, you need to stop collecting bills and coins. Money should be spent on things that truly bring you pleasure. Only by finding your purpose in life can you experience peace. In order to feel truly happy, you don’t need money at all.
Ways to fight greed
Greed is a dynamic character trait, a feature of thinking. The desire for profit can increase or decrease. This phenomenon is reversible and, if desired, a person can get rid of it.
A common problem in the fight against greed is a person’s reluctance to understand that he has a problem, as well as the lack of intentions to change himself for the better. If the desire to become better is present, you can achieve results quite quickly.
It is necessary to restructure thinking in accordance with a different scale of values. Through conversations and clear examples, it is worth showing that wealth and material wealth are not the main thing in life. There is no point in constantly chasing values; there are more pleasant things to do in life.
Push a greedy person to take actions during which he will help others. Such actions will help to clearly demonstrate the pleasure a person feels when helping others. It is worth developing creative hobbies in an individual and expanding one’s horizons.
An important aspect of the fight against greed is identifying the reasons for the development of thinking focused on obtaining material wealth. This is a very difficult task. If a person has a complex, you need to fight it. If there were problematic moments in childhood, it is worth resolving them with the help of psychotherapeutic techniques. It is also important to show the prospects of greed - loneliness, isolation, fears.
Everyone likes it
Where did I write that you need to please all men?
Trying to please everyone is wasting a huge amount of your energy. Who needs this? Those who strive for reckless perfection (after all, everyone needs to please - pilots, tank crews, doctors of science, homeless people, morons and idiots)?
When does a person want to please everyone?
When his parents spent his entire childhood comparing him to others, and not in his favor. For educational purposes. They didn’t know, however, that in this way they raise a neurotic and a loser, because... It’s impossible to please everyone, but you’re always welcome to do a lot of stupid things... Just follow your destiny - and one day you’ll notice that you’ve become like your mother or grandmother...
I propose another way: Engage in effective activities, and this means choosing the best men in this world (courageous men, successful in life and in business), and learning to please only them.
Learning to please the best men in this world is a path of personal development, increasing your energy, and developing creative thinking.
“...But maybe for some this greedy woman is wonderful both as a woman and as a person in general. It’s just all about mutual understanding and psychological compatibility...”
A greedy and deceitful woman cannot be wonderful. And if you think carefully about this question, you will understand why.
A greedy and deceitful person has a low level of personality development. He is stupid, and his actions are similar to the reactions of a mad dog. Just a little bit, he starts whining, trying to arouse pity, or breaks down and starts barking. A rabid dog lives according to the victim's script. Such a lady only disgusts a self-sufficient man.
Surrender without love...
The standard Baba Yaga scenario is when a woman lives alone (or with someone she doesn’t love), and doesn’t know where to find the man of her dreams. She lacks the ABILITY to please a large number of the best men. This is the norm. The majority of women live this way.
But they know a thousand and one excuses for their plight. “I’m smart and good - these are unfortunate life circumstances, and bad men!” And the fact that she may have problems in thinking - she doesn’t even think about it.
I (and our female cadets) do not meet this standard. And moreover, I propose to break out of this standard - which is within the power of every woman. True, for this you need to stop looking at generally accepted norms, and start CONSCIOUSLY INFLUENCE YOUR DESTINY!
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“Hello, Oksana! Thank you for your wonderful newsletter. I regret that I didn't find her earlier. I greedily consume the archive and realize how many mistakes in life could have been avoided. I admit that there has not yet been much progress. And yet there is an achievement: I finally opened my eyes and saw that I was standing on the edge of an abyss and that I shouldn’t let anything take its course and make no sudden movements either.
I suffer from Baba Yaga syndrome, I have serious health problems, I can be very aggressive and just rush at people, make plans that I don’t implement... and a lot of things... and then I hate myself. It’s no longer just “I don’t like”, but I hate. And my boyfriend left me.
Oh yes... and despite all this, I’m only 19. And so I thought that I was living somehow wrong, that something wasn’t right here. It's time to change and develop. And I sincerely believe that what I read from you will help me with this. I know that I let myself go and will correct myself.
Thank you again. I hope you don’t mind if I occasionally turn to you for advice and write to you about my successes?”
Veronica.
Strategies for behavior towards money
Every adult individual sooner or later determines for himself some strategy for earning and spending money. Basically, it is formed based on the attitude towards material wealth that was instilled in the child in childhood by his parents. It is not uncommon for a behavior strategy to be deliberately incorrect, because at an early age a person faced some financial problems that affected the quality of life of his family:
- Greed is an unhealthy desire to increase one’s income by any possible means.
- Stinginess is both a similar and different state from the previous one, in which a person avoids any financial expenses, even the most insignificant ones, in order to preserve his capital.
- Greed is a combination of the first two states that is formed in a person in the presence of one of them.
- “Big Game” is a very abstract term that can be interpreted in many different ways, but it can be used in the context of entrepreneurship. When we are talking about a person who has a healthy desire to increase his capital in order to be able to further allocate from it the funds necessary for investing in new projects that can generate profit.
- Prudence is a borderline state between frugality, thriftiness and stinginess, greed.
- Generosity is the ability to easily part with earned money. This is a quality that is directed largely not at oneself, but at other people surrounding a person in one or another area of his life.
- Wastefulness is the total inability to save what has been earned. Spendthrift people part with money so easily that almost all income from their work tends to disappear on the very first day after payday.
