Uncovering Greed: The Development of Complex and Innate Desire
By Vicky Reynal | Published: 2025-01-09 15:30:00 | Source: Neuropsych – Big Think
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Over time, economists and philosophers have had different views on greed. There are those who see it as a drive for self-preservation and as a force for economic growth at the societal level. Michael Douglas’s famous monologue in the movie Wall Street (2010) (in which he plays the fictional financier Gordon Gekko), exemplifies these views: “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed articulates the essence of the evolutionary spirit, cuts it off, and captures it. Greed, in all its forms: greed for life, money, love, and knowledge has characterized humanity’s upward spiral.” It has also been suggested that political systems designed to eliminate greedy behaviors have led to poverty and chaos.
Greed is innate and exists not only in humans but in animals as well. The desire to accumulate food/money is partly a survival strategy. Money is linked to our survival, and the threat of not having enough raises primitive fears. Evolutionary psychologists believe that greed serves our goal of perpetuating our genetic code, because by causing us to collect possessions that signal social status, we increase our chances of attracting a mate.
However, many have an opposing view. Economist and political theorist John Maynard Keynes saw the love of money as a kind of madness. He called the “money motive” the way we turn something bad into something good. We turn ruthless greed into something morally admirable. Greed can be a destructive force on both a societal and individual level. It can turn into a harmful, unethical and exploitative force. Some say we live in a social and economic system that fosters and even institutionalizes greed, leading to societal problems such as inequality, corruption, financial crises, and even war.
Otto Fenichel was one of the first psychoanalysts to suggest, in 1938, that capitalism was one of the powerful forces promoting wealth accumulation: “The capitalist must, on pain of his own destruction, strive to accumulate wealth.” But he says we are driven by internal and external forces in our quest for money. Internally, we have narcissistic needs that we seek to satisfy through money. It refers to the fact that young children feel omnipotence and “that throughout their lives a certain memory of this omnipotence remains with the desire to achieve it again.” Money becomes a symbol of a potential source of power and self-respect because in our society, power and respect depend on having money. This internal drive for power and self-esteem is reinforced by societal perception.
He stressed that the interaction between internal and external forces is what constitutes our motivation to accumulate wealth and that it would be limited to consider one without the other. The realities of money in society cannot be ignored. He wrote: “In our society, the owner of the money is truly respected and powerful.”
Melanie Klein, whose pioneering work in child psychotherapy greatly shaped psychoanalytic thinking, also saw the child as being shaped by the constant interplay of internal and external factors. But when talking about external factors, she emphasized the caregivers’ response to the infant’s greed. Greed is an innate force but it is also something that is mitigated or exacerbated by the responses we get from our caregivers when we express our desire to have more. How does the world respond to us? Do we get more when we ask for more? Are we scolded or punished for being greedy/needy?
Adding to the external forces that shape our perception of greed is religion. Most religions condemn this. In Christianity, it is considered a cardinal sin (the most obvious being Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver). In Buddhism, this is one of the three causes of human suffering (along with ignorance and anger). There are many examples from different religions. In Dante’s Inferno (Alighieri), the greedy (or those who hoarded money) and the prodigals (those who spent it lustfully) appear in the same circle of hell to suggest that both groups are guilty of the same sin – the inability to utilize their wealth in moderation.
The money was supposed to do something, but it failed. For some, it is a feeling of love, for others it is a feeling of inner worth, and yet for others it is a feeling of happiness
In Greek mythology, the story of King Midas satirizes his relentless pursuit of wealth. Midas helped Dionysus (god of wine and ecstasy) find his father and granted a wish. Midas wished that anything he touched would turn into gold. In his hasty choice of his wish, he ignored the fact that even his food would turn into gold, and was thus threatened with the possibility of starvation as a result of his foolish desire. In a later version of the story, even the daughter he touched turned into gold. Some versions of the mythological story have him reversing the curse of his talent, but others see him starving to death. Regardless of the version, it is a tale rich with meaning: money does not lead to happiness and the pursuit of it can turn into a curse and become a destructive force. The god who granted Midas’ wish, Dionysus, was actually a two-faced god, representing happiness but could also channel brutal rage as a result of over-indulgence (echoing the dual nature of wine). With Midas too, it is shown that excessive greed has a dark side.
Greed often has negative connotations and some people reading (this) may recognize themselves in some examples but are forced to argue that “my greed is not greed, it is fear, it is anxiety, it is…”. However, only until we can face the fact that there are feelings within us – which can be fear, but often greed alongside them – that generate our desire for more, do we have a chance to understand and change our behaviours. Only when we can face the fact that we may constantly be craving more, can we stop and ask ourselves: Why isn’t what I have enough? What do I imagine more will actually give me? What am I afraid of?
Then there are those who, even though they have amassed more wealth than they ever imagined, still feel empty or dissatisfied. The money was supposed to do something, but it failed. For some, it is a feeling of love, for others it is a feeling of inner worth, and yet for others it is a feeling of happiness. Imagine working tirelessly all your life to end up in the same place you started. It was all just an illusion. Money was perfect, and we ascribed all sorts of magical qualities to it, only to discover that what we had hoped to buy was not for sale.
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