The Greed Quotient!
It influences human beings in their
relationships both in families and workplaces leading to a sense of
competitiveness and envy; it influences human being in the basic man-woman
relationships leading to subtle or obtuse expressions of lust which actually
emanates from the greed for carnal pleasures; it influences human beings in their
marital relationships in a vicious circle of mutual-greed concerning positions,
incomes, costumes and so on; it creates virtual earthquakes in workplaces where
colleagues and bosses act or react in unprecedented ways driven, obviously, by the
greed for promotions or for absolute control or for credit-grabbing-stealing; the
uncontrollable greed for alcoholic liquor that often results in skirmishes both
at homes with members of the families and on the streets with friends or even
strangers; and of course, the eternal greed for eating—at homes or at the
ever-luring outside joints/restaurants/bars. Of course, we must distinguish
between the urges of ‘eat to live’ and ‘live to eat’ to avoid harmful
generalizations.
The above examples have to be considered
as extremely limited in view of the unimaginably expansive networks that greed
can create and evolve. It can act both at the micro and macro levels, from the
nuclear families to international politics—of strategies and wars. The basic
instincts in the operations of the hard-core criminals and the terrorists also
emanate from greed; however, we’ll exclude this class from our treatment due to
the rather ‘light’ nature of this piece. The importance of the ‘greed quotient’
is crucial as far as the consequences are concerned. As we already indicated,
if the quotient is insignificantly minimal then greed operates at a subtle
level without any visible adverse impact; and when the quotient is almost
hundred percent then greed operates at the obtuse level leading to family or
social or even international unrest.
In the fields of garments, cosmetics, fashion
and consumer durables it is extremely difficult to separate the greed quotient
from other factors like necessity, glamour, consumerism and choices. But of course we can
rely on this indicator: the more the number of unnecessary purchases, mostly of
luxuries and expensive items, the more is the value of the greed quotient. Therefore,
it is not at all surprising to come across caricatures of human beings in terms
of garments or cosmetics or the lack of it everywhere, the foundation of which
is soundly rooted at the greed factor.
Going out for lunches or dinners at the
coveted restaurants—starting from the one to the five-six star varieties—is not
always based on greed. Sometimes it is a matter of weekender or holiday habits,
sometimes it is to be free from the constant kitchen engagement and at other
times it is just for pleasure where greed can come into some play. When we find
huge crowds waiting for hours before restaurants known for their gourmet
delicacies at the dead of the night it is clearly a case of a higher or very
high values of the greed quotient.
A fierce sense of competitiveness with
neighbors, colleagues and relatives makes unfortunate changes in the values of
the greed quotient. The once-upon-a-time celebrated advertising slogan ‘neighbors’
envy, owners’ pride’ was perhaps a direct abetment to causing unfavorable
values in the greed quotient. If a neighbor buys an expensive luxury item or a
car you feel compelled to do the same, even risking a financial crisis. The same
applies to expensive fashion costumes and a variety of other consumer durables,
and also to pleasure trips that could otherwise have been avoided.
During unusual times like war or a
pandemic that continues for a long time there emerges the syndrome of the ‘suppressed
greed quotient’, and when things seem to be coming back to normal there is an upward
explosion in the values, leading to abnormal behavior patterns and violations
of rules and regulations. The governments concerned react in ways based on
their values, indeed. More positively speaking, this ‘suppressed greed’ or even
the normal greed does not affect the poor and the lower-middle classes as much
to an extent as the affluent classes, and this is a blessing for the deprived,
saving them from further sufferings.
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