“Focusing our life solely on making more money shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of ourselves. Because it’s only when we hitch our wagon to something larger than ourselves that we realise our true potential,” US President Barack Obama once remarked.

Greed is an inordinate desire to acquire and possess, contrary to the character of God. It is not surprising that Roman Catholicism identified greed as one of the deadly sins. Mahatma Gandhi termed it as one of the “roots of violence”.

Greed defies the common good, a good that is meant to be shared and beneficial for all members of a community. From an ethical and moral perspective, the common good can be seen as central to the tenets of many religious faiths. In practice, it can be briefly described as ‘doing unto others as we would wish done unto ourselves’.

It is not hard to see rampant greed, even on a local level. Take the real estate market. The rampant exploitation of the property market by ruthless contractors is clearly evident, where numerous ‘pigeon hole’ flats – which could almost be categorised as slums – are sold at a hefty price as ‘modern apartments’.

New couples taking up such residences are expected to raise a family in a tiny space, lacking privacy and comfort simply because of the contractors’ conscious choice to compress the maximum number of dwellings within a plot of land, strictly for profit maximisation. Lack of action by the planning authority to ensure permits are issued with a social conscience can only be regarded as an endorsement of these contractors’ greed.

Then there are the land-grabbers, who believe they have absolute dominion over the usufruct of public land. This unbridled temptation to conquer public property – perhaps we can call it the Armier syndrome – seems to be spreading faster than we think.

Are we constantly seeking ways to make more money in excess to what we actually need?

Just take a look at our beaches, where Joe Public, who struggles to make ends meet, can hardly find a suitable place to pitch his umbrella on a public beach.

We all know why; it is the result of greed. For a petty licence fee, a kiosk has been allowed to occupy a generous portion of the coast that once used to be enjoyed by all.

And last but not least, there is the latest trend – the illegal encroachment of pavements by catering establishments to the detriment of pedestrians and a peaceful neighborhood.

The state’s responsibility to ensure justice and protection of the weak and marginalised from the gluttony of the mighty has always been of concern to the Church. Recently, in an address to French parliamentarians during a private audience at the Vatican, Pope Francis emphasised that “laws should be instilled with additional spirit so that they ennoble the human person”.

We should also reflect on our own inordinate desires, which may verge on greed. Are we constantly seeking ways to make more money in excess to what we actually need? Are we defying sound judgment in the pursuit of meeting our selfish ends?

Resonating Proverbs 11:6, which states: “the treacherous are caught by their own greed”, Christ warned: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

Then he told him this parable: “The grounds of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself. ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain and say to myself ‘I have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’

“But God said to him ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:15-21)

gordon@atomserve.net

Mr Vassallo is an accredited spiritual guide at the Centre of Ignatian Spirituality.

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