Greed: Who’s to Blame?

If you’re like most people, your pension, 401(k) or retirement annuity looked at lot better three years ago than it does today.  Three years ago, you may have felt much more secure in your job or been living in the home of your dreams.  Then, all of a sudden, it all went very wrong.  The stock market isn’t stabile, US unemployment remains around 9%, and the rate of housing fore-closures continues at a steady pace.  Who’s to blame?  The problem must be the greed of bankers, Wall Street investors, and faceless people in the financial industry, right?

The worst oil spill in United States’ history has just been capped in the Gulf of Mexico.  The water is poisoned with oil and toxic chemicals which are showing up in shell fish and other sea life.  How many corners did BP cut to increase their profits while making this oil well unsafe?  What about the reportedly thousands of other oil wells in the gulf which aren’t properly capped and may be leaking oil?  Who’s to blame?  The problem must be the greed of the people in the oil industry who short-changed safety for profit, right?

There are significant problems in the United States.  Cities lack resources, schools don’t provide quality education, and neighborhoods are blighted because of …. well, when we get right down to it, the problem is greed, isn’t it?  Someone or some few people want to control financial and material resources and use them for their own gain.

The culture of the United States is a culture characterized by greed.  (Yes, other people in the world may be greedy, but let’s look at the United States right now.)  The problems facing us as a nation are based on greed.  We want someone to blame for greediness because we, as individuals, surely aren’t to blame for the economic down-turn, the crash in the housing market, and the problems facing our cities and our schools.

Greed occurs when someone uses resources for their own benefit.  “I’ll get something out of this investment if I do it this way.”  Or “I want to have an SUV because I like a big vehicle even though I’m the only one in the vehicle.  I have the money so I’m just going to buy it and not think about the natural resources used.”  Greed happens when I just think about myself and don’t consider the implications of my decisions for others.  When a culture is based on greed, over time, it will collapse under the weight of its own selfishness.  Greed is not sustainable.

Sustainable living is fundamentally contrary to a culture of greed.  Sustainable living is based on the awareness that my decisions and choices impact the lives of others.  Others who also live on the planet have the right to enjoy the Earth’s resources just as much as I do.  This recognition is foundational to sustainability and contrary to greed.

Countering the impact of the United State’s culture of greed requires Sustainable Spirituality.  No longer can we (or the rest of the world) afford to live with decisions based on greed.  Instead, a new consciousness recognizing that we, as a community of diverse people, need to find ways to share the resources of the world together.  For this consciousness to be effective, we need to move from a personal spirituality focused on “my salvation” or spiritual practices as focused on “my growth and fulfillment” to a recognition that personal growth in wholeness and holiness is for the good of others.

Blaming faceless power-brokers for the problems we face will not result in any real solution for the problems of greed in the United States.  Instead, a new consciousness characterized by sustainable spirituality will enable us to take responsibility for life on the planet and grow with respect for others.