Why some people are greedy

Greed. That's one of the things which we love to have, but hate it when other people have it. Greed may mean "money" or it may mean other things, like greed for power. But what motivates people to exceed what is expected of them and hurt other people as a consequence?

Marcus Aurelius in his "Meditations" says that greed is one of the things common to man and beasts. (quoted from the Third book, XVII)

"To be capable of fancies and imaginations, is common to man and beast. To be violently drawn and moved by the lusts and desires of the soul, is proper to wild beasts and monsters, such as Phalaris and Nero were."

So, if greed is one of the things which we inherited when we were still yet, but beasts in the wild, how then that not all of us show this in our daily actions? How then that only those who are rich and wealthy and occupying powerful posts show this despicable trait?

Machiavelli has one answer. In his book " The Prince" , he says that people expect Principalities to be "greedy" since they have control of all resources. Short of being hated by the people, Princes show greed because it is their very nature to be greedy.

Mark Twain says greed is actually a symbol of our inward wants and the reason why we always act like greedy men is simply to satiate our momentary lusts for things.

Over time though, as what my favorite philosopher said, Nietzche, taking possession of the things our souls love, loses value. The possession, by itself, diminishes possession. There will come a time when it is not good to have anything, says Blaise Pascal. We get bored, says Malcolm Muggeridge. And the tighter we hold on to these world possessions, the less we have, says Thomas Morton. And why is that? Because the things we hold dear, the very things which we so greedily aspired for will never be enough. Even if we own the world, there is still the universe which we simply and cannot possibly, own.

Greed just shows how stupid some people are because they failed to recognize that things, as possessions, are temporal objects subject to momentary wants and desires. The more we amass things for ourselves, the more stupid we become because more possessions mean more temporal things subject to our disposal. The more we have, the lesser we become because we set a higher standard to ourselves.

This, I think, also applies to those greedy for Power. Power is temporal and sometimes, illusory. Why do I say so? For example, the power of the President. Those so-called powers are stated in the laws. When the President does not act, she does not exercise power. When she's inside the toilet, is she exercising power? No. When she's asleep, is she exercising power? No. When she's walking, is she, exercising power? No.

Power is only power when given and when recognized by a group of people. If a group of people does not recognize such power and authority, then, the holder of the power loses it.  Legitimacy is what causes power. Without it, any semblance of power loses value.

The value therefore of Power is equivalent to the amount of trust given by those who does not have power. When those who does not have  power, gain power for themselves, the previous holders of power ceases to be valued and relevant.