(image courtesy of blackeri)

Greed is the untempered, unenlightened pursuit of acquisition.

“Avarice” is more of a blanket term that can describe many other examples of greedy behavior. These include disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, especially for personal gain, for example through bribery. Scavenging and hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by greed.

The first thing that we need to realise about greed in the conventional “I want everything!” sense is that it is unsustainable. It could be described as unenlightened self-interest at the expense of others.

“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” – Erich Fromm

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that greed was “a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things.”

The more acquire, the less valuable the rest of your acquisitions become to you. This is often described by economists as the law of diminishing marginal utility. I’ve noticed this among musicians, who jokingly describe their very real condition as G.A.S, or “Gear Acquisition Syndrome”. The first guitar is your baby, your precious. The second and third are great to have, and it’s nice to look at all of them. Once you have ten or more, they become a burden, a chore. The cost of maintaining them becomes exponentially higher: the dust begins to gather, you have less space to keep them. Restringing, once a meditative and calming process, becomes tedious and expensive. I know of musicians who sell gear to buy more gear. It becomes an obsessive addiction. You no longer enjoy or appreciate anything you acquire- you may even end up resenting it, and yourself.

You can’t take any of your acquisitions to the grave. Well, at least I don’t think you can. The ancient Egyptians certainly didn’t think so, and sent their Pharaohs off with loads of gold and goodies. The Chinese have a tradition of burning “hell money” for their ancestors- which makes me wonder, shouldn’t there be some serious ultra-mega-hyper inflation in hell by now? (I read a compelling argument that the point of burning hell money was meant to remind the living that you can’t take it with you.) Anyway, the point is- even if I’m wrong about what you can take with you- nobody ever lies on their deathbed wishing they had more possessions.

Hacking Greed

The magic lies in the distinction between tangibles (material goods and possessions) and intangibles (experiences, knowledge, relationships, memories, ideas).

Cars, guitars and money have thresholds- once you have enough, having more will not be any more fulfilling. In this regard, acquisition has similarities with conquest and consumption- they all could be described as sins of excess.

1. Direct your greed towards the”acquisition” of intangibles. Aim to learn as much as you possibly can. Read books. Fall in love with the world. Nourish the relationships you have in your life. Develop a skill or two. Travel. Learn. Explore. Observe. Transcend.
2. Share. Hoarding is a remarkably pointless activity. We live among others, and for a large part I think it’s fair to say that we live for others, not just for ourselves. Giving away isn’t just okay, it’s often incredibly fulfilling. Share your knowledge, your expertise, your experiences, everything. Sharing happens even at the most basic levels of physics and biology- so I like to think that there’s a certain universal quality to its value.
3. Choose quality over quantity. Appreciate and embody the art of minimalism. Avoid the dangerous revolving-door policy. Whenever there is a trade-off, quality is always more pleasurable and fulfilling than quantity.

When I was a kid, I used to save up until I had $10, and buy the cheapest basketball available- they were ugly to look at and ugly to touch, and they inevitably would get ruined after a very short while. I went through at least 8 of these basketballs, possibly more. Do you see the  If I had just been a little more patient and prudent, I could have bought a slightly more expensive basketball that would have lasted me much longer, and ultimately cost me less.

Appreciate what you already have. This is pretty much the ultimate hack- the ability to create something out of nothing. Realize that you very rarely actually need more-  there’s always a better way to get more out of what you already have. You can apply this to everything. Instead of working longer hours to buy a new guitar, I could spend that time mindfully practicing on my current guitar instead- and the pleasure I’d get out of it would be both qualitatively and quantitatively more.

Need a holiday? You don’t need to leave the country- there most certainly is something beautiful and interesting somewhere in your vicinity that you’ve been overlooking. Want some romance? Why not have a tumultuous affair with your girlfriend, or wife? Everything is endlessly intricate and complex, and it’s often far more pleasurable to explore things further than to flit from one thing to the next the way the spirit of the times encourages us to.

Learn what you can from the minimalists. I highly recommend zenhabits.net. It’s deceptively concise, but take it slow.

Less means you spend less. You need less storage. You need a smaller house.

Less means you worry less. You search for things less. You are less bogged down by clutter.

Less means you’re lighter. You’re freer. You can focus on better things.

Less means you can travel more quickly. You spend less time with stuff, and more time doing stuff.

Less is more sustainable, more beautiful.

-Leo Babuta

“Hacking The 7 Deadly Sins“, including Vanity,Lust, Greed, Sloth.