Page 37 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 7
P. 37
COMMUNITY
onds and was ready to continue sire for more than is decent or Our culture’s emphasis on
on to his destination. Two of the deserved, not for the greater greed is such that people have
boys left to continue their play good but for one’s own selfish become immune to satisfaction.
but one remained with the man. interest, and at the detriment Having acquired one thing, they
As the man was about to leave, of others and society at large. immediately set their sights on
he gave the little boy some Greed can be for anything, but the next thing that suggests
money, I guess two Naira notes is most commonly for food, itself. Today, the object of desire
but I can’t remember exactly money, possessions, power, is no longer satisfaction but
what the denominations were. fame, status, attention, admira- desire itself. Greed is also asso-
He told the little boy to share tion, and sex. ciated with negative psycho-
the money with his friends and logical states, such as stress,
left. I watched in surprise as this The origins of greed exhaustion, anxiety, depression,
young four year old boy quickly Greed often arises from early and despair, and with maladap-
took one of the notes and hid it negative experiences, such as tive behaviors such as gam-
in his pocket. He then present- parental absence, inconsis- bling, scavenging, hoarding,
ed just one of the notes to his tency, or neglect. In later life, trickery, and theft. By overriding
friends as the money that was feelings of anxiety and vulner- reason, compassion, and love,
given. Obviously the plan was ability, often combined with low greed loosens family and com-
that he would share in the one self-esteem, lead the person munity ties and undermines the
he presented, while keeping to fixate on a substitute for the bonds and values upon which
the one in his pocket to himself. love and security that he or she society is built.
They all happily ran to a nearby so sorely lacked. The pursuit (copied from psychology today
shop for some sweets and kid's of this substitute distracts from website)
stuff. I sat and considered what negative feelings, and its accu-
had just happened and it was mulation provides much needed Deeper than greed
just beyond my understanding. comfort and reassurance. There isn’t just one way of
knowing what drives greed and
Till today I still wonder why I If greed is much more devel- the acts that follow such ten-
did not correct that child, and oped in human beings than in dencies, but one thing for me
yet this was about twenty or other animals, this is partly be- always stands out, that is, mind-
so years ago. I guess what cause human beings have the lessness. To be mindless is not
happened was that I was much capacity to project themselves to pay attention to the needs of
more surprised that he could do far into the future, to the time of others or not to give others their
such a thing at that age than I their death and even beyond. fair share of whatever it is that
was surprised that he did it at The prospect of our eventual they are worthy of. It is quite as
all. After all these years, that demise gives rise to anxiety simple as that. I can categori-
drama never left my mind. about our purpose, value, and cally tell you that Afrika is the
I can't tell you that I understood meaning. way it is right now in all spheres
the entire thing that transpired of its society, because of greed
with those kids as at that time, In a bid to contain this existen- among Afrikans themselves.
but now I know better that if tial anxiety, our culture provides However, greed is not the
there are things we can point to us with ready-made narratives problem, it is a symptom. The
that are some of the problems of life and death. Whenever root cause of greed is thinking
with Afrika, they are greed, self- existential anxiety threatens of ourselves in isolation from
ishness and the many negative to surface into our conscious others or as members of elite
cousins they carry along with mind, we naturally turn to peer groups that define what
themselves. But the question is culture for comfort and consola- we should want. We are mem-
this, how on earth did that child tion. Today, it is so happens that bers of larger communities, with
of that age think up something our culture—or lack of it, for our many kinds of people, on whom
like that? culture is in a state of flux and we depend and who depend on
crisis—places a high value on us. If we act with others in mind,
The Psychology behind greed materialism, and, by extension, we should begin to see chang-
Greed is the disordered de- on greed. es in Afrika. Politically, econom-
www.msingiafrikamagazine.com heal . restore . rebirth . Afrika | 37
