Most people want to make more money in their career and/or business to support themselves and their families. When people sacrifice their physical and mental health or moral standards in pursuit of money, they are called greedy. Examples of greed can be found in the workplace, business, and sports industry. Greed in the workplace occurs when an employer doesn’t adequately compensate employees. In addition, employees can become greedy when they expect to be compensated without providing value to their employer.  Corporate greed in business occurs when a corporation makes decisions to prioritize profit over social responsibility. Furthermore, corporate greed has been blamed for the high prices for consumer goods. Most recently greed has been shown in the sports industry when Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, stole over sixteen million dollars from Mr. Ohtani to support a gambling addiction. Greed is all around us, but what is the origin of greed?

Origin of greed

Greed has been around since human civilization. Research has suggested that greed occurred in response to people placed in unpredictable environments where food and resources were scarce. People who worked to get as many resources as possible had a better chance of survival than those who did not. Those who were motivated to obtain more resources than they needed for survival were rewarded with prosperity and social status. The growth of capitalism in the western world during the 16th and 17th centuries encouraged people to accumulate wealth and become individualistic.

Pitfalls of greed                                             

Greed can cause you to become deceptive and create a persona to make people believe that you are charitable. For example, a business owner may tell customers that a percentage of the profits from each item sold may go to a particular charity. However, the business owner intends to keep all the profits. Greed can also cause stress, anxiety, exhaustion, and depression. In addition, greed has been directly associated with behaviors including hoarding, gambling, and theft.

Combating greed

Greed can be overcome by changing your mindset about money. You can start by reflecting on your motivation for acquiring more money and practice giving money to others who are less fortunate. After you give money to the less fortunate, you can record in a notebook or journal how giving money made you feel. Next, you can reflect on all the things that you are grateful for. This reflection will allow you to observe everything that you have and mitigate the feelings of lack that drive greed.

The monetary gain that greed provides in our lives is temporary compared to the long-term effects greed has on our overall wellbeing.