greed!?

what has happened in our western world? have we really become that greedy? i have just been sitting around thinking about how much of our current troubles are because of greed. i thought about people and how much stuf they want to own, they are willing to do whatever it takes to get the stuff they want. we have more than anyone could imagine yet we still want to get more. it isn't enough to have one car, we must have at least two or three or some of us even more than that. we aren't satisfied to have a meal we want an all we could possibly stuff down our throats (all you can eat buffet) buffet. we aren't happy to have the internet at cable speed we now must buy a booster pack so the internet goes before we even push the button. our children think that they are entitled to have everything and anything that they want. the word no doesn't exist anymore, the thought that we can't afford something is a thought of the past. the idea of self control has gone out the window. all the while we have so much stuff that it doesn't fit in our house, so we put it in a garage, then when that is full we build a mini barn or two or three, and when that can't contain all we have we finally decide we will rent a storage space from someone else. we have so much stuff we are willing to jut throw away perfectly good stuff that other people may be able to use because we have bought newer stuff.



our companies have followed in our footsteps, they are so greedy they couldn't care less about service anymore as long as they are getting their money. their main concern isn't how to be competetive or to help people, all they care about is making more money. it isn't that they just want to make money because (i realize) they have to, or they wouldn't be in business. they just take adavntage of people who can't afford to be taken advantage of. think of payday loans-they loan money to people, who are obviously in deperate need (probably poor), for an amount of interest that is totally unreasonable. now the people who didn't have money to start with are feeding the greed of a company, and we think this is good? people have bought houses that have been appraised at way more than they are worth and the bank has agreed to loan them money, not just for the high appraisal but they are willing to give 10 to 20 percent more than that (which is already more than the house is worth). then they charge more interest than they should and when the people get behind (they loan money to people who they know don't make enough to pay the payments), they aren't willing to work with them, they charge a million fees and make it almost impossible to get caught up. why do we allow these things to go on? is it capitalism? sure it is, but it is rooted in greed! now to fix the problem we have instead of helping the people who pay the taxes, and who are losing their homes we have decided to allow the greedy companies that helped get us into this situation to have the money and the people just lose (the people are partly responsible for agreeing to pay more than they could, but if you have ever listened to these loan officers they make it sound to good to be true, and indeed it is).



the problem we have in this country is greed, we consume nearly half of everything the world produces while only making up about 6% of the worlds population-how is this right??



the problem now is the church is falling right into this as well. the church is all about having big buildings, big staffs, and more stuff. it isn't enough to just have a building-it must be state of the art or we want a new one. we aren't satisfied with what we get, you never hear a church say we have all that we need, praise the lord, they are always saying we need more. yet they never use the money to help the community or the people. it is used to keep the well oiled machine running, to pay for our big buildings and all our staff and stuff. we no longer care about the community, we no longer care that there are hungry people around us, or that people need our help while we just sit comfortably inside waiting for the next christian product to come along for us to consume. is there any end to our madness-our pursuit of more stuff. can the greed be stopped?



we need to repent of this greed and start to make an effort to consume less. we need to change our ways and quit acting like the rest of the world was only put in existense to make stuff for us. it is time for a revolution of thought and culture. what are we going to do about it? will we try to make a difference?