Regular readers know I often write about energy, and while this piece may not at first blush seem like an energy story, you’ll soon see that the quest for an ample supply of energy is, in fact, at the heart of human greed.
Greed is often said to be a central cause of our ecological and social ills. It motivates excessive and injurious exploitation of the planet and thus threatens the existence of many species including humans themselves. It leads to excessive economic inequality and the social ills presumed to be associated with that inequality. And, of course, greed is regarded as not just bad for the biosphere or society; it’s bad for the soul and therefore earns a place on the list of the seven deadly sins.
Many people are convinced that greed is learned and therefore can be unlearned or not taught in the first place. Others believe that greed is simply an inherent evil in humans, part of the human condition.
Someone once asked oil tycoon J. Paul Getty how much money is enough. He replied, “A little bit more.” The fictional financier Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s film “Wall Street”–who is best known for the phrase “greed is good”–gives a different answer: “It’s not a question of enough, pal. It’s a zero-sum game – somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred – from one perception to another.” Finally, I offer the words of Noah Cross, a character played by John Huston in the film “Chinatown.” Cross is asked what else such an enormously wealthy man as himself could possibly want, and he replies: “The future.”
