Just Say When

I was in a coffee shop the other day when I saw a dollar bill fall from a woman’s purse as she was paying for her coffee. Because a dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to, it landed right at her feet. Almost immediately, the man behind her pointed out the found money. A noble gesture to be sure, although I submit a gentleman would have retrieved the money from the floor and handed it to her, perhaps affording himself an opportunity for an introduction. On the other hand, a scoundrel would have distracted the woman and pocketed the money.

We are being distracted daily by scoundrels and their ilk who greedily pad their pockets through chicanery and shenanigans.  I have no truck with people motivated by profit who earn an honest dollar, but I have no time for opportunists who extract and extort precious pennies from the vulnerable and weak.

But even the best among us can be drawn to a life of insatiable piggishness. Those that are blinded by greed have not only lost their way, they have lost their balance leaning from what is important to what is not. We have been fooled into thinking that greed, “excessive desire, especially for wealth or possessions,” (Webster) is admirable.

Almost thirty years ago, Wall Street, a movie starring Michael Douglas came out. In one scene, Gordon Gekko, the Michael Douglas character, said “. . . greed, for lack of a better word is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed, in all of its forms, greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.”

I reject that. No one would ever suggest that the other six deadly sins (envy, gluttony, lust, pride, sloth and wrath) are good. The movie plays fast and loose with the definition of greed. When anybody ever says, “for lack of a better word,” they are making it up as they go to suit their agenda. I believe you can have a healthy thirst or hunger for life, love and knowledge, but “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

I am one of those who believe that the best things in life are free (or at least available at a discount). Clearly, there is more to life than making money and accumulating possessions, especially when it only is for selfish interests serving no one but the one who banks it. There can be a limit to material gain, and, of course, it is a matter of degree, but when the desire for wealth and possessions is unquenchable, we end up as scoundrels.

I am not advocating for government intervention to “spread the wealth around.” There are plenty of worthwhile charitable organizations that feed and clothe the world’s poor. If you are fed, clothed, warm, and you have saved for the rainy days, perhaps you can admit you have some extra dollars to share from your purse or wallet that otherwise may drop to the floor.