Musing on the Greed Gene.

When considering the state of the human condition, it seems to me that greed is the most destructive pollutant in the human genome. It drives so much that is damaging to life on the planet, from the massive disparity of wealth on both a national and international scale, to the increasing impact of climate change, to the relentless pursuit of power and the misery it causes to the innocent masses, to the obsession with lifestyle driving mindless consumption, to morbid obesity and the predominance of toxic chemicals in the food supply. It’s all driven by greed one way or another.

And that’s why I’m feeling more and more crushed by the sense that the world is falling into a maelstrom of major change. Some economists are forecasting the possibility of economic collapse, climate change is bringing more frequent and more powerful natural disasters, and the leaders of the world’s biggest power blocs are sparring and snarling and slowly bringing the possibility of world conflict ever closer.

And let’s not forget that major events in one part of the world have a ripple effect these days because there probably isn’t a country on earth that is self-sufficient. We’re all dependent on each other to live the way we’ve become accustomed to living. The only exceptions to that are the small groups of indigenous peoples, mostly in South America, who have made a point of maintaining distance between themselves and what we call – with a hint of arrogance I feel – the ‘outside world.’ And even they’re slowly disappearing as the loggers and miners and ranchers move in, destroying their environments and callously murdering them if they get in the way. And all to feed the greed of company bosses, the corporate world, the politicians who profit from their actions, and those of us in the ‘outside world’ who insist on living the way we’ve become accustomed to live.

So where is all this likely to lead? I don’t know, but one optimistic thought is that if we humans are reduced to scattered fragments returning to the practice of hunter-gathering, maybe the greed gene will eventually die out and we can make a better job of it next time. And should any of this matter to me? Not unless you believe in reincarnation.

The next post will be pleasanter.