GREED CAME FIRST AND IS STILL THERE

WHAT’S an unpleasant breed? It’s one immersed in greed. The low-grade poet rarely knows it (lol). And while a commonly used expression says: Money is the root of all evil, it must be self-evident that greed came first. If we go back around 6 000 years, still a long time after the emergence of homo sapiens, we might ask – did people display greed about money? Well, they didn’t have any. They did fine with the barter (exchange of goods) system. Then, around 600BC, money arrived on the scene, in the form of a coin. If you find one from that era, let me know. I’ll guide you to making a fortune; in money of course!  The first paper money came into the world around 1020 AD. Eventually, medieval banking systems gave way to the gold standard, which in turn ceded to modern currency. Here endeth a very short history of money.

Civilisation

Greed, on the other hand, will have emerged thousands of years earlier, at the very start of human civilisation. Two examples might include the big guy taking the largest portion of the wild pig the group had just caught and killed; or one family capturing the lion’s share of the cave when the tiny community sought a permanent shelter. Fast forward to the present, there are two prominent and controversial characteristics within human society: Money and power. Neither, per se, possesses anything inherently wrong and unacceptable. It’s primarily when you tack on greed to either, or both, that the human dysfunctionality emerges like a giant wart. I would suggest that when money is your God then you’ve forsaken devotion and obedience to the one real God. The greed for power has gone deeper and more dangerous.

Attention

Allow me please a minor diversion to draw attention to the other commonly understood version of  ‘power’; the one that buzzes through the overhead lines. I must mention that I see nowhere – forgive me if I have missed a tiny 15-word article tucked somewhere deep in a national daily - I repeat, I see nowhere a chart of what is our peak demand, what is our maximum power generation, and how the massive gap is to be plugged. January 2025 is only five months away and the people of Eswatini are getting more than a bit worried. Come on, let’s see that little chart.

Back to the other ‘power’; real power, so often utilised excessively or inappropriately, invariably – excluding revolution - comes from business success or mandated status. Donald Trump is a good example of the former and has turned what should be a dignified and respectful competition for the votes of decent American people, into a town bar slanging match. Power can also come from purely mandated status. That’s how Kamala Harris has joined the battle for the votes to become president of the USA. She is an elegant opponent, but can someone please ask her to stop giggling all the time, so voters and enemies can take her seriously?

And then, voted and mandated into power, are the many thousands in the political arenas around the world. You know – where, generally speaking, the politicians are generally speaking; what they enjoy doing most of the time. Where greed creates a drive for power, especially in the political arena, that’s a red flag. It’s always healthy to assess a budding or established politician with the following: is it the drive to assist the poor and disadvantaged, and to help create an honest, peaceful and productive society and a system of accountability for those who transgress that code? Or is it the naked pursuit of power, the pleasure of constant attention and adulation? There are, of course, many who grow up wanting to help the world. Some get voted into mandated power, while most of the truly beneficent individuals, driven by genuine altruism and love for fellow human-beings tend to devote themselves quietly to organisations that are fully committed to helping the world.

Ironically, politicians specialise in being more critical of their competitors than the general public will ever be. One of the British prime ministers of over a century ago said, in criticism, but with a typically humorous turn of phrase – “Mr Speaker, I respectfully withdraw my statement that half the cabinet are idiots. Half the cabinet are not idiots.” Let us wind up allowing a little more humour to put the readers in a good mood for the day.  How fascinating it is that one of the most successful USA presidents of the 20th century was Ronald Reagan who depended on every report being summarised in one page, knocked-off at 5:00pm, and relied on a teleprompt and acting ability to make the right impression in his speeches.

I have fond memories of Reagan who, away from the teleprompt, once said - “I have given orders to be awakened at any time, in the event of a national emergency; even if I’m in a cabinet meeting.’’ Staying sane in this deceptive and greedy, but occasionally rewarding and reassuring world of politics, requires also staying amused. One of the most popular TV programmes, which was a comic satire of government at the time in the UK, was called ‘Yes, minister’ and, later, ‘Yes, prime minister’. The instruction from the PM – ‘that is a highly secret document; no one must ever see it’. The reply, “In which case, prime minister, I think it’s best that I file it.”

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