MikeK
Gold Member
- Jun 11, 2010
- 15,930
- 2,495
Knowing when you have enough is rational. Wanting more, even when you have more than enough, is not. It is the manifestation of greed, which is a mental disorder.The problem is greed.
Greed is never a problem, unless people are fearful.
There was a time when I wrongfully attributed greed to only those who had accumulated excessive personal assets. But what I've learned from participating in Internet forums is the sickness of greed affects even those who have no hope of ever being rich -- or even paying off their credit card debt. These people have the sickness but not the financial success it sometimes fosters. And it seems one of the primary symptoms of greed is the inability to see it for what it is. They mistake it for ambition. They are confined by their own bad luck or lack of ability, and like imprisoned thieves they respect and emulate robbers who get away with their loot.
There is a mental disorder which is popularized in a television reality series called, Hoarders. This series deals with individuals whose sickness is manifest in obsessive compulsion to accumulate, to keep, to retain, to hoard. The same mechanism operates in the compulsion to accumulate infinitely more money than one needs to lead a comfortable, happy and luxurious life.
And what is wrong with wanting more?