GREED: The Root of our Problems

By Prakash Srinivasan





Each of us is blessed with our own strengths and weaknesses. But there are some qualities that God has bestowed on all of us that assume the form of vices in us. One of the most addictive of all of them is greed. Each of us has been greedy at many points of our life, it just does not mean amassing of wealth but it starts in the smallest of forms from our childhood. Only a handful of people in the world must have conquered this thorn-like addiction.



The damage that human greed is doing to the world is unimaginable. It has manifested itself in a million destructive forms. I am not trying to sermonize on how to control greed but just reminding myself through this article that I need to live within my limits. Let’s look at a few major ways in which greed had brought about large-scale destruction:

• The looting of earth’s resources in the guise of “development”. This is self-explanatory. Some of the ways we do this is by tree-felling, digging for oil, mining etc. These activities though very beneficial in the short-term lead to immense ecological destruction in the long-term. Many scientific studies have proven that global warming is the consequence of all these activities. Global warming has made the weather in many places very crazy where the winters are getting warmer and the summers hotter. Just this afternoon I was complaining about the blistering heat on a Nov afternoon in Bangalore which is as crazy as it can get!

• Accumulation of wealth and riches: This can be a very debatable topic, because it is difficult to define how much is “enough”. But when I look at myself I can easily identify when I am crossing the line and encouraging a want which is actually not my need. But my desire urges me to satisfy that want and I end up accumulating what I never needed at all. As a responsible citizen of society I feel the need to give back at least some portion of it (say 20%, let’s not talk about Chanakya Neeti which says 25% which is too much by today’s standards) to the people who have been less privileged. I start counting my blessings at this time when I thank God that he has given me all that I needed. Everyday I face a hundred temptations of buying many things that I do not need and it’s a battle to stop myself from yielding to the temptation. Now I realize that ceiling on desires is so tough.

• In Everyday Life: One of the greatest joys of the senses is eating. Many a times I have eaten more than what my body can take and suffered. Yet I have not learnt and the reality hits hard when the body gives up and strikes back. Just that one extra Rasgulla or Gulab Jamoon can spoil our day!

•  Corruption: This is probably the worst that greed can get and it is the lust for money. Corruption is destroying countries and economies. It has reduced India from “India Shining” to “India Dying.” The common man is completely frustrated because corruption has percolated to every part of our lives. I have experienced it in so many ways that I will give an award to anyone who does not expect anything extra. It’s not possible to eliminate greed completely from our lives but we definitely need to define our limits. Greed needs to be controlled starting from the individual to the global levels otherwise we will have the rare distinction of being the species who destroyed themselves

(Prakash is a student of Swami who did his B.Com(Hons) in Brindavan campus and then his MBA and PG Diploma in Indian Culture and Philosophy in Prashanthi Nilayam. During his student days, Prakash had the good fortune of being a Mandir bhajan singer and has enjoyed singing for our Lord many times. A passionate lover of music, food and nature- Prakash is currently heading the European system operations for Hewlett Packard(HP) from the Bangalore office. His enthusiasm, humour and cheerfulness are contagious In this article, Prakash shares his insights on greed has become the cause of much of the world’s problem today. He voices his understanding of the statement that world has enough for every man’s need but not for his greed.)