There is enough for Everyone’s Need but not for, Anyone’s greed.    

Homo sapiens have walked this earth for more than a hundred thousand years now. Yuval Noah Harari in his book ‘Homo Deus’ discusses how early humans collaborated, lived in harmony, and led to the rise of civilization. But with the advent of technology like the wheel, fire, bows, arrows & axes, the species experienced a transcendental shift. Even though Earth was enough for everyone’s need, “territorial greed” led to wars and the rise of vices of discrimination and fractures in society, thus leading to the destruction of the very same harmony, dividing people.

Even if we move over a couple of thousand years in time, the earth has witnessed enough rulers whose greed knows no bounds. Be it Aurangzeb’s lust for power or Hitler’s lust for ‘Lebensraum’, greediness has always caused destruction. Even the USA’s attack on Vietnam in 1960 is said to be motivated by its greed for a global hegemonic position. Hence, even though Earth has enough for everyone’s need, it doesn’t have the capacity to satisfy anyone’s greed.

Greed refers to a lust for power or money. It is a manifestation of self-centeredness and narcissism. When someone becomes greedy, rationality and logic take a back seat, as is happening today as the USA withdraws from the WHO and Paris Agreement. Greed tries to reduce checks & balances and propagates favoritism and the concentration of power & resources.

This was the case even with the British. They primarily came as traders but with the start of the industrial revolution, profit soared exponentially. Even though there was enough in India to satisfy their needs, their greed ultimately led to colonization and robbing India of its wealth. The greediness of the Zamindari System (10/11th of produce as tax) dealt a further blow. This angered the native population, leading to independence within 10 years of the 1857 Revolt, now robbing them (Britishers) of their most ‘prized jewel’ i.e. India.

The greed for power still plagues our political system. This leads to hate speeches & criminalization (43% MPs in 17th LS), vices of communalization are fanned as seen in Muzaffarnagar riots (2017) and Delhi riots (2020) for political gains.

Even regionalism i.e. love for one’s own region over others, has led to skirmishes on Belgaum territory (Maharashtra & Karnataka) and various interstate water river disputes (Cauvery: TN & KN). Even though with enough water available if used judiciously, greed has only exacerbated delays turning the projects hostile.

The environment is the most important sphere where greed for exploitation of resources has done the most damage since the last century. It was with respect to this sphere that Gandhiji remarked “There is enough for everyone’s need but not for anyone’s greed.” Earth has provided humans with food, air, and security. It is the genesis of life with the advent of HYV seeds and green revolution; excessive groundwater exploitation and decrease in soil productivity have harmed earth like never before. With the Industrial Revolution, greed for accumulating led to global warming. The IPCC report today sounds like a doomsday prophecy! Nobody would have thought that the grim picture painted by Al Gore in his movie ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ would be a reality so soon!

In the family too, despite enough resources and knowledge, greed of patriarchy has led to the problem of ‘missing women’. Devoid of money and freedom, women are second-class citizens in lakhs of homes.

Corruption happens when greed mixes with discretion along with a lack of vigilance. The greed for money has caused Ponzi schemes to run and has led to corruption by Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi & others. Greed doesn’t have to do anything with knowledge or information. It is an internal construct because if it were not so, we would not have cases of Teenu Joshi, an IAS doing corruption of more than 1000 crores.

In the international arena, ethical egoism dominates today over moral relativism. Despite having enough for everyone’s needs via free trade, greed to overpower has led to trade wars (USA & China), currency wars, cyber & proxy wars (Middle East).

In fact, even our scriptures deal with the above vices. The Bible considers greed as the most dangerous of virtues. Greed perpetuates when a person’s ego needs are not satisfied, according to Abraham Maslow. This lack of satisfaction leads to problems of corruption & communalism. Today’s materialist culture has only exacerbated such feelings.

But as every coin has 2 sides, greed might also be helpful in a few cases. It was the greed for knowledge which led Albert Einstein to continue even after 1000 failed experiments. As shown in the movie ‘The Imitation Game’, it was the greed of Alan Turing to know the unknown, which built a computer that led to the invention of ‘Enigma’, the world’s 1st computer.

Thus, greed if channelized in the right direction can serve as motivation and help find truth, thus supporting that greed might benefit in a few cases.

Today, as the world struggles with COVID-19 and enters into a climate catastrophe, the importance of Gandhiji and his maxim “there is enough for everyone’s need but not for anyone’s greed” has increased. World Overshoot Day is only reducing every year and is on 22 Aug this year. This shows that humanity’s greed is fast depleting the resources of mother Earth. So, what can we do to avoid the catastrophe?

Sustainable Development as propounded by SDGs is the need of the hour. Gandhiji’s saying, “We have taken Earth as a loan from our future generation” must be kept in mind.

Kant’s deontological approach of following right means can be helpful. Rather than skirmishes over water disputes, solve them diplomatically. Rather than incessant exploitation by fertilizers & pesticides, right means i.e. organic farming, Zero budget Natural farming, or Miyawaki technique for afforestation can be practiced. Women can be empowered with DBTs and SHGs. For changing attitude, use of social persuasion and increasing the feeling of communitarianism by leaders (Kohlberg’s theory) can be practiced.

It duties mentioned in Art 51(A) and that of universal brotherhood and fraternity in the preamble can show the way ahead. Each individual needs to consider resources as ‘global common’ in line with Aparigraha or trusteeship principle of Gandhiji. Then only we can save mother Earth because it has Enough for Everyone’s need but not for Anyone’s greed.