“Poverty wants much, but avarice, everything.” Why are there millions of people living in poverty while a miniscule percentage of the population is living life in idyllic luxury? Selfish greed and lust over material possessions catalyzes disregard of human morality. This pursuit of overindulgence proceeds to violence, abuse, and death. A large portion of our society is run by greed to secure the most profit, while ignoring the methods used to obtain our wealth. Greed is prevalent in many corners of our society, from compelling violent petty crimes, exploiting children, and even inciting revolutions.

The short story “Hotel Malogo”, by Helon Habila, presents the theme that greed leads to corruption, violence, and death. A secondary character in the story, Papa John, was a poor, miserable, but friendly man, optimistically awaiting his pension for working on a railroad. The government finally paid Papa John his pension. The money instantly changed his attitude from friendliness to haughty narcissism. With his new sense of empowerment, he immediately boasted about his sudden wealth by buying many people beer in a bar. The bar’s sinister owner, who sought to steal Papa John’s money, abruptly murdered Papa John that night. Papa John’s sudden change in attitude and subsequent murder demonstrate how easily greed leads to violence and death. Papa John’s murder showed how greed alters basic human decency to justify murder with seeking spoils. This altered perception to overlook essential human morality, due to greed, in the pursuit of profit is prevalent in a much larger scale throughout big business of modern society.

Our business world is dominated by human greed to achieve the most profit from the simplest, quickest methods while disregarding the ethics of the process. In certain industries, particularly in third-world countries, human ethics are greatly neglected in favor of cutting costs and maximizing profit. Hundreds of thousands suffer in tedious labor to provide the myriad products that we desire. Even in modern times, there are still inhumane working conditions throughout the world. In parts of Africa and the Middle East, human slavery is still in practice. In parts of Asia, child labor is used in the infamous Nike sweatshops to produce shoes at a low cost. Despite the fact that many people know of this immorality, few have ever stood up to try and solve these problems. The fact that society has neglected fixing these issues demonstrates that so long as the majority of people get what they demand to quell their greed, ignorance is bliss. Even in a “righteous” country such as the United States, the sole, blind pursuit of profit is evident in our foreign actions.

The United States has acted with hidden motives of greedily securing wealth by manipulating sovereign nations. In 1953, the United States collaborated with Britain and silently influencing a military coup to overthrow the government of Iran, led by the democratically elected prime minister, Mohammed Mosaddeq. One year later, the United States overthrew the democratically elected president of Guatemala, Arbenz, with the same method. These leaders were removed by the United States under the false accusation of falling towards communism in a time of strong anti-communism, though both men were viewed as great leaders by the citizens of their respective countries. However, the truth was that the United States replaced the leaders with military dictators who favored the United States in terms of trading oil. The foreign involvements by the United States are prime examples of how our nation is driven by avarice. The United States could not accept being on the weak end of the trading terms. To satisfy our own lust for oil, we replaced Iran and Guatemala’s leaders with dictators without thinking of the repercussions to the countries’ citizens and their welfare. The United States is not always the good Samaritan of the world that we often perceive ourselves to be; we act out deeds of injustice to secure our personal prosperity, while hypocritically disregarding the justice we preach.

Greed over material possessions leads to disregard of human morality. Lust towards wealth leads to violence, from petty murders to deceptively subverting foreign countries. Human rights violations, incited by greed, are present throughout the world. So long as we blindly secure our own luxury, we shift our vision from those who suffer and struggle to survive. In truth, securing a nice, humble life needs little, but satisfying greed requires everything.

Back to TABLE OF CONTENTS