It’s been a long time. I shouldn’t have left you. Without a dope blog to ponder to–ponder to–pah-ponder to…etc, and what have you.
Okay so. I’ve had a particular post in mind for at least the last several weeks. It’s literally been marinating in my head until my thoughts on this topic were just right and I think ready for consumption. Again, I said I think. We’ll see how goes.
Remember that movie “Wall Street”? Oh, you remember “Wall Street”. That dumb ass awesome movie with Michael Douglas about these greedy ass stock brokers who stole from people to become gagillionaires? The movie only set the stage for the 90’s, Haliburton and most corporations in play currently. “Greed is Good” was the famous line. And so it was. Twenty some years later, folk is greedier than ever. Killing themselves and all kind of folk over money and *gasp* X Boxes–even pizza and parking spaces. They just released the sequal. I can’t…
We’ve all been told ad nauseum that “money is the root of all evil”. I can’t say that I agree. Money, just like anything else, is a tool. In most cases, it has become a key–to people’s greed. So if money isn’t in fact the root of all evil, then what is Envy? I don’t know the actual answer to that question. I can tell you what I think though. It’s greed. In people.
Money by itself is benign. It’s the value over life that people give it that makes it seem evil–which kindof makes people evil–but I don’t agree with that either. I tend to liken money to food. Stay with me.
To make this point, let’s take money out of the equation completely. Think about Thanksgiving dinner. Oh yes, you starve yourself for hours… maybe days… to prepare for the turkey, and every amount of prepared sides big momma, pops and them and/or all your aunties/uncles have in store for the big day. Folks can barely get through grace before filling plates the size of a small person and stack food on said plates to a peak that looks like Mount Rushmore. Why? Because Thanksgiving comes only once a year and food be damned if you gonna miss out on one morsel your stomach can hold. Right?
Meanwhile, you can have turkey and yams and greens and mac and cheese and whatever else any time you want. In fact, you probably do. All the food at the Thanksgiving table is nothing all that special if you think about it. What makes Thanksgiving special (to me anyway) is getting together with family and friends to share a meal and give thanks for all the blessings you have and maybe a few hopes for the future. The meal is sort of a reason to hang out with folk you haven’t seen all year.
Okay so how many folk can barely get up from the table when they’re done with attempting to eat Mt. Rushmore? Then it’s the dessert table one must climb. It’s like whatever you see, you just have to eat, just because it’s there and it’s all good because it’s Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is also the leading time for tooth and belly aches, the most acid reflux, the most gastrointestinal issues, the most bowel issues, diarrhea–basically–the time when most folks get sick from eating waaaaay too much food. Do we say then that Thanksgiving is the root of all evil? Or food is bad? Food is the devil? Of course not. Food, when used for what it’s supplied for, is the source of our body energy. It keeps us alive. Without a certain amount of food to sustain us, we all wouldn’t live long, vibrant lives. The problem is not with food then. The problem is our greed.
So why is it that we get all bent out of shape about money? Why must money be the root of all evil? I mean, it can easily be deduced, when earned or acquired and used for what it is designed for–to sustain us in a world that requires it– having money is a great thing. It buys the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the gas we need to get to work, it funds the roof over our heads. Money seems to be just like food. We need it to survive, but it will kill us if WE let it. The operative word in that last statement is WE. Meaning, WE are in full control of our actions and WE choose to act in pursuit of money in ways that hurt, maim or kill,instead of sustain, nourish, and circulate. That’s Greed.
I wish I had a dime for every time I read a story about a family in turmoil over the contents of a will. The worst is when it’s over nothing. Folks knocking over caskets and fighting to the death to get Great Grandma’s vintage church hat collection. Can’t fit nare one of them hats on their head, but they just have to have them hats. *smh*
Or…folks who already own a home (or several) start scheming on how to get the house she left to cousin so and so because cousin so and so has helped keep the house in tip top shape when Great Grandma’s own kids wouldn’t and now the kids feel slighted because it should be theirs–to sell–to make a profit. Those kids could care less about that house. They don’t care that somebody already lives in it and takes care of it and now has a home of their own to sustain their own family with. None of that matters to them. They just want the profit and they don’t care who gets hurt in their process of getting said house. That’s greed.
Or those folk who have so much money they already own a small country–each–and then the source of all said money (Great Uncle so and so who invented the pet rock or something)–dies at the ripe, young age of 122. Oh, how they all scurry, bitch, moan and whine, contest the will–how dare he only leave us $1 million and give the rest to charity?! We’ve all watched at least one Lifetime Movie that reenacts the horrific drama that people create in the name of money. That’s Greed.
I remember a story in the news several years back about a guy who killed his pregnant ex-girlfriend and unborn child because he didn’t want to have to pay child support. That’s Greed and extra special trifling.
How many people do you know of or have read about–big time actor or entertainer types that have greeded themselves out of a major film, music or commercial project because whatever was being offered them (probably way too much) just wasn’t enough. I think of Lauren Hill in this case for some reason. At the height of her career, Nike wanted her to sing some theme for a new commercial and they offered her, let’s say $500,000. She said she wouldn’t do it for less than, say $4 million. So they offered it to Mary J. Blige and she did it for whatever they offered and so Mary did the commerical and Lauren didn’t. To me, that’s greed. Mind you, Mary J. Blige is still on top of her game and Lauren Hill is still trying to climb back to 1/16 of where she was.
Let’s be clear (for my lawyer friends out there), I’m NOT saying negotiation is a bad thing. Negotiation is a great thing when honorable intentions happen on both sides–I guess. I also get it that sometimes negotiations don’t work out in folk favor, even if it’s the offering party that’s being greedy and not paying your worth–it does go both ways. I am saying however that sometimes the opportunity is more beneficial than the paycheck in the long run. I’ve gotten off topic. I digress.
I venture to say that the reason for this post goes a lot deeper than being simply about food or money or even loss of life or opportunity over food and money. I’ve seen some things the last few months that have been laying quite heavily on my spirit. I’m not talking about celebrity bullshit either. I’m talking everyday me and you folk who on a daily basis put their entire lives and the lives of their family and friends on the line because they can’t walk away from a table–be it a card table or a negotiation table or even dinner table. I wish you could see the looks in people’s eyes that I’ve seen. It’s almost manic how their eyes glaze over and they become like zombies. Very scarey, very mean, diabolical zombies. They spit, they throw stuff, they cheat, they steal, they yell and scream. They look possessed and even addicted to something they can’t put in their veins. It’s not the money. It’s their greed.
You see these people with these crazy looks on their faces and you wonder, what in the world could have you so off? What in the world has so sucked the life out of you that you can’t see what’s in front of you–you health, well-being, family, great friends, roof over your head, clothes on your back, food to eat. You have everything you could ever need! What would make you sit here and lose it all like this? Greed.
I’ve lived by this mantra for many a year now–everything in moderation. With regard to food, I eat whatever I want, pretty much whenever I want because I don’t let my eyes get bigger than my stomach. Oh yes, I crave a bacon cheeseburger from time to time and yes!!!!! I eat ONE (or half now and half later). If I want fries with that, I have them. I get the small. And I’ll have a bottled water. If I want ice cream, I’ll get whatever flavor pleases me (as long as I can pronounce all the ingredients–I draw the the line at high fructose corn syrup and hyrdro-glatonized–something or other). I’ll eat a few over dramatic spoon fulls and still have the pint to graze off of for a week or two.
I don’t do this because I’m all that figure conscious because believe me, I’m really not. I don’t do it because I think I’m better than anybody or because I don’t really like food or whatever thought pattern you might have going on. I do it, because something in me has drawn a line in the sand about greed. I’ve seen what it does to people. Food, drugs, alcohol, gambling, attention, sex, ambition, fame, money, stuff.
Greed turns perfectly conscious and stellar beings into walking zombies who consume just for the sake of consuming. To fill holes they think they have in their spirit.
Something in me says, I don’t have any holes to fill. I’m good with eating, doing, existing,etc. for nourishment of my body temple and joy in my spirit and anything past that is overkill.
I keep the same mantra (now) with regard to spending money. If it doesn’t somehow bring absolute joy to my life–I don’t need it. I don’t care how fly it is (or how dope folk will think I am). Ya’all know I’m on a mission.
I’m not writing this to preach. Lord knows, I ain’t perfect. Nor do I have all the answers. I will say I’m writing this post because my highest self is using my writing ability to put a nugget of insight out into the ether. If it’s for you, I’m sure you’ll get it. If it’s not, no worries, it is what it is. Consider this a public service announcement by way of the coming holiday season. The times when most of WE, find ourselves most gripped by greed, rather than the true nature of the season–giving, sharing, loving, and appreciating the blessings WE all already have–with no focus on what we THINK we want (and probably don’t need nor will ever use). I can dream, can’t I?
The moral of this story? I have no rightly idea. Just some food for thought. Thank you for reading this though. Peace and Abundant, “gratitude trumps greed” blessings! Love, -e-