Need Brings Greed, if Greed Increases it Spoils Breed | HPSC Preparation: All subjects - HPSC (Haryana) PDF Download

Philosophy

The man by nature, is insatiable. It is this inbuilt quality that propels him to improve his well-being, no matter where he is. So as soon as he can fulfil one aspiration, he desires something better. If he becomes desperate to fulfill this wish, his want becomes his need. Just because he wants more or better of something he has, it could be termed greed.
A need that becomes greed impacts everyone and spares none. At the family level, when the parents are greedy to acquire more and more luxuries in the name of security for their family, it ruins the family life for lack of quality time spent with the children. In a family where there is more than required easily available for the children, they get not only lazy but arrogant- sure signs that they will not have the grit of hard work and the spirit needed to make life a success story. It is said that the first generation accumulates, while the second generation will lose 70% of the savings while the third generation will lose 90%.
Nowadays the families are small. In a family, there are two children or only one. The parents, mostly both, are working. They go all out to provide all that money can buy for the child. They provide the best of coaching, tuitions, food, and clothing. In fact, it is not wholesome food that is good for the child that is provided but the food the child asks for. It is normally fast food, good to taste but not good for the child. Similarly, the child has his way for toys and video games. As he grows up this way, he expects branded clothes, mobiles, and bikes or cars. These pampered children would not be able to withstand the challenges when they come their way. These children would succumb to temptation and probably not even lose any sleep over it. For them, it would be the way of life. For children will not become what you tell them to become, but what they see you do.
However, need is not a wholesome word that could be applied for all on the same footing. What can be classified as need will vary depending on personal and social factors, and the social standing one has. Nevertheless, the statement: need brings greed, and greed spoils breed is a universal truth with very few exceptions if any.
The needs of blue collar workers would be fundamental. His needs would be a job for himself, basic housing, clothing, health, safety, education and recreation for family, etc. His white collar manager, in fact, the entire human race requires only these, but the quality and price tag of the commodities keep increasing with increase in status and salary. It is not uncommon to find people living beyond their means, no matter what level of society they are in. Striving to get more than what they can afford makes them fall in the bracket of greed. Greed or a hunger to be at the next level is good. It is a motivator to get promoted or increase your profits. The problem starts when people succumb to wrong practices, like cheating, manipulating, concealing, or bribing with the intent of getting an undue return. This easy money coming in does initially reduce the burden and makes life comfortable, but soon, alas, all too soon, the lust for more would set in, for demands always by their very nature always get fuelled when fulfilled!
All needs do not stem from their homes. The teenage normally likes to keep up with their peers. The talk of drug abuse has taken such sinister proportions, especially in Punjab, that smoking and drinking look comparably harmless! With all these vices, one thing in common: Once you are hooked to it, it becomes a need, and soon it turns into insatiable greed. Life becomes a misery for the addict as well as for the family. The listless, wasted years of the youth only spread agony and distress, and wistfulness. It is, therefore, said: Choose your friends wisely. Also, be wise and responsible. Do not get into the trap. Remember, soon the pleasure will turn into a need, and then the need will make leave you lamenting for more and more, till you are no more. Families also need to keep a vigil on the youth so that they can nip this bud in the initial stages and save their child.
There is another aspect to the need. Everyone expects to live in a clean and unpolluted space. The youth of this generation are crying hoarse that their elders have spoiled this planet and they did not use it responsibly enough... Business houses indiscriminately expand, piling their profits, without the thought of the needs of the future generations and their needs. They have plundered the earth’s resources ruthlessly.
Because of the greed of development, trees were mercilessly uprooted, rivers and oceans were polluted with untreated industrial waste, and carbon emissions were not cut down, which has left the planet hotter than ever. Therefore, the possibility of melting glaciers and rising coastlines is a threat that looms on everyone’s head. Greta Thunberg, a teenager, has become a face for the movement to save the planet through #Fridaysforfuture. There are many such young people who are doing wonderful work for a good cause. It is not that the entire breed is spoilt!
Soil contamination and global warming, and changing weather patterns are all man-made problems. The responsibility for the depleted condition of the planet for this breed has to be owned by the elders of this generation. Sustainable development in all 17 areas needs to be worked upon seriously and judiciously to reverse the harm done as much as can be done. In the greed of creating comfort for today's children, the price paid seems to be colossal. The children have been robbed of their future. The greed of today is leaving the breed of tomorrow with contaminated air, water, soil, and infections.
India is a land of spirituality. It talks about all material wealth as ‘Maya, where the higher purpose of life is salvation. The desires need to be leashed and controlled. Even if one is an atheist, values of love, sharing, compassion, empathy, and acceptance need to be nurtured at home and in school. Community welfare and the common good of all should be the priority of all. There should be realisation that if society prospers, I will. Through role plays and short moral stories, these points can be inculcated in the child. There is no better way at home or school than leading by example. It is only by curbing and restraining our desire and not making life so easy for the children that they will take care of themselves, and the nation and world are left in capable hands when we depart from this planet. Remember: every bird nudges its young one out of its nest before teaching it how to fly. That is how the bird learns to fly!
All is not lost. The breed of today may not be as obedient and as humble as we would have liked to see them, but they are wild, imaginative, adventurous, and smart. They are smart enough to realise the need of the hour, that they will have to and will take action to restore the balance and make this planet a better place than they inherited. They are our only hope.