Greed

 

"Greed is good."

These are the words spoken by Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street. The real-life figure who said them ended up in prison.

Greed is something extraordinarily difficult to control. It is listed among the seven deadly sins precisely because it cannot be controlled. Yet, it is also the driving force that propels the world forward.

What brings chaos is specifically the greed for money. As wealth grows, one's status changes. Once you enter the realm of the 'haves,' you can no longer mingle with the 'have-nots.' From that point on, you must contend with competition, jealousy, and distrust. You worry that the 'have-nots' will try to steal your money, while simultaneously desiring to take from those who have more than you. It is a vicious cycle.

This is the conventional view of money. Money is an abstract entity made of paper that controls us all.

As long as it doesn't hurt anyone, I don't think having greed is all that bad. Greed is necessary to transcend mere mediocrity or the status quo. Perhaps I feel this way because I am an artist, but I believe we must venture into places where no one has gone before. Not merely to earn more money, but to take on the challenge.

We tend to think of greed as wanting more than necessary, but times have changed, and we simply desire more than what we currently have. It is merely a shift of generations. Nothing can stay eternally the same.

While we must criticize base material greed—that vulgar urge to steal another's money just to live comfortably—we should praise creative greed: that grand, life-affirming energy that refuses to be content with one's current self (the status quo) and breaks through limits to reach higher ground.

The "greed" required to venture into uncharted territory is, even philosophically, a deeply justified and beautiful desire.