According to Catholic doctrine, there are said to be 7 deadly sins: lust, spiritual sloth (acedia), anger, envy, gluttony, pride, and greed. Let’s focus on the latter. Why have our societies become so greedy? Why have more noble values been substituted for this one?
Greed appears when God disappears
Greed is the feeling of never having enough, of always wanting to accumulate more things. This feeling is the mark of emptiness, of existential fear, of a lack of faith in the future; perhaps these three things characterize our era. According to commonly held religious beliefs, God dwells in the hearts of believers. If the Holy Spirit dwells within you, your soul is already nourished and therefore does not seek meager consolations such as excessive consumption or vain adventures.
Capitalism or the celebration of greed
The adjective “capital” in the term “deadly sin” and the word “capitalism” share the same etymology, “caput,” which means “head” in Latin. A deadly sin puts our “head” at risk, so they are mortal sins, whereas capitalism originally only concerned counting heads of cattle. Capitalism is a kind of life-sized game in which the winner is the one who manages to accumulate the most wealth. It is neither moral nor immoral, but rather amoral; its morality is confined to the single rule of accumulation. That’s why greed is an essential quality; it’s the only true value directly encouraged in this game.
Capitalism knows no natural boundary
The goal of capitalism can be summed up by its rules, and they apply everywhere, even where the sacred reigns. Art is a good example. In the past, art was of a spiritual essence, then it became increasingly political, and finally economic. Capitalism has turned art into a marketplace. The commodification of the world poses a problem because it clashes with anthropological realities, notably the need to cultivate the sacred. Humans need the sacred, for example, in their romantic, familial, or friendly relationships. Commodifying love, family, or friendship raises significant ethical questions. That’s why capitalism will always be in conflict, not necessarily with its natural opposition, socialism, but rather with conservative and traditionalist currents. Recent discoveries in artificial intelligence have highlighted the need to resort to transhumanist technologies, of course, with the aim of increasing productivity, a factor in enrichment. However, this raises a real question about the vocation of man and even his definition.
Greed is suffering
Greed would be the symptom of a soul disorder. If your soul is content, you shouldn’t normally develop greed. When the soul is great, it is generous, it overflows and wants to embrace everything. When the soul is weak, it contracts, withdraws, and sees the world with fear and apprehension. Greed is one form of this suffering.
The heart is like a radiator
Old centralized radiators often functioned with hot water. Sometimes, air would accumulate in the pipes, preventing fluid flow. To solve the problem, the air had to be released until the water gushed out. It’s the same for the heart; for the soul to circulate there fluidly and relaxedly, acts of generosity must be performed from time to time. Typically, performing an act of service, offering one’s time, giving a gift, are all things one can do to expand one’s heart.
A new world is possible
If the 20th century saw the collapse of colonial empires and the resulting European supremacy, it also witnessed the massive deployment of industrialization, the liberation of women, and better conditions for children. Of course, there were two world wars, and they strongly influenced the aforementioned advances. In short, we experienced a socio-economic upheaval of global magnitude. These changes will undoubtedly be incomparable to what has already happened in the 21st century and what is still to come. While it is difficult to predict the future, we can already observe trends that will accentuate socio-economic changes:
The prevalence of the virtual in all its forms
The world has never been so virtually connected while being physically and emotionally disconnected. The new generations, who have never known a world without the internet, will continue to widen the gap between people to the extent that a large part of the population will live in a bubble or echo chamber. The isolation we already observe will manifest even more, and the world will eventually give birth to generations of truly disconnected people. The metaverse may become a reality within the next twenty years. Facebook’s failure in this regard simply shows that the public was not ready.