Part VI - Greed

‘There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed’ - Gandhi

I do spend some time each week in-between blogs, contemplating the subject, the tone and some key points and just fill the rest with my opinions and observations.

This blog will be the easiest for me to write out of the whole series, as the vision came quite easily.

I am by nature generous, which is of course the synonym of Greed. My habits of over delegating, over empowering, and wealth sharing, do shy me away from avarice. Although there are quite a few people who do complain that I do not give them enough time. However, if I had it and could give it, then surely would hand that over too.

The overriding vision of this blog had to come from an article in a newspaper not so long ago, and the journalist proceeded to describe a scenario quite unbelievable, but summed up man’s appetite for lustful greed.

I am sure that most of you have seen the film Wall Street, a cinematic masterpiece and lives up to its hype. The central character Gordon Gecko (the bad guy) was played by Michael Douglas. It was as the film’s title suggests set in the financial district of New York – Wall Street. Gordon Gecko was a trader, with vast personal wealth and an even bigger thirst to obtain more. His catchphrase was ‘Greed is good’.

To cut a long story short, Michael Douglas was invited for a tour around the trading area of the Dow Jones stock exchange, which I believe is because of an upcoming sequel of the hit film. The moment he stepped onto the floor he was mobbed like a 1960’s Beatle, the traders were beside themselves. They had come face-to-face with their messiah, the chanting which of course is the traders and banker’s mantra is ‘greed is good’, ‘greed is good’, and ‘greed is good’ rung out uncomfortably around the trading floor.

Why was this uncomfortable?

Two weeks before the recession had seen it’s catalyst, with Bear Stearns going under, causing shock waves around the world and every financial institution.

To look at the quote from Ghandi, every man in the world in this crisis did not think that there would be sufficient abundance for their own and families needs, yet how can the world learn from this with institutionalised, aspirational greed.

It is too obvious to use this blog to dig at Bankers, so I want to look at some lower level activities that show the same abhorrence and condescension towards morality.

The first point is one that any parent can relate too. The summer is over and winter is coming closer, and thought of Christmas is never far away. As a parent you need to plan ahead, as the part which brings the most pleasure is providing your siblings with the gift that they desire.

This year my daughter loves ‘Waybuloo’ a children’s TV series on CBeebies (BBC) which she absolutely adores. She is totally enamoured with the Orange ‘Pipling’ Yojojo and verbalises her pleasure at every opportunity. As a new programme the toys have just been released, and as a father the very vision of her face upon opening the Yojojo toy will be my Christmas present.

So where does greed come into this?

There are only a few retailers with the Waybuloo range, so to my surprise (or not) when you go to purchase an item the shelves are cleared out. So as a concerned father you look for the on-line option, only to see the sheer abundance of items that are available on e-bay, however, in some cases 2-3 times the retail price.

I cannot imagine what goes through peoples mind but there behaviour can be described as rapacious. The plundering of children’s toys to sell for excess profit does not fall under the umbrella of ‘Entrepreneur’ but does sit with the more sinister parasol of Extortion.

There is another example of greed which allegedly does come from a good place, but is just manipulation of authority, hoarding and trickery. This behaviour has more negative consequences than good.

As you all are aware the world has a Swine Flu pandemic, and in the UK there has been a variety of fatalities and widespread infection. The Government has moved from an isolate to a treatment phase. There is enough of the drug ‘Tamiflu’ for 50% of the nation, which would be more than enough to control the spread of disease.

Due to being infectious there are several ways how you get diagnosed and obtain the Tamiflu antiviral. The main outlet is the Internet, and you log onto the NHS swine flu website and go through the questions, enter your details and they diagnose your symptoms.

If they match them or near to Swine flu then you are given a unique reference number and a member of family or friend (with your ID) can collect the drug on your behalf free of charge.

Now with Swine Flu the funny thing is, that during the hot spell in August reported cases were dropping but fatalities remained steady. Now with a bit of cold weather coming the cases have now doubled but fatalities dropped. How?

This is because that people are not sick but using the web service to obtain Tamiflu, just in case. At this rate, with my calculation of 8-weeks. The country will run out of the vaccine thus causing widespread panic and accusation of mismanagement.

However, the street price of Tamiflu has just gone up.

Does greed make you happy?

No, all greed does is exaggerate the positive aspects of any object. If no association of happiness is placed on said object then it is reasonable to assume that happiness can be obtained without it.

Another metaphor is someone who buys and wears more and more jewellery. It makes you appear wealthy, displays affluence, the attention to detail is all to see. However, eventually you will conclude that it is what you put inside you and share from inside you which make you happy.

Selflessness, gratitude, generosity, charity are greed’s antonyms and inevitable nemesis. It is just sad that greed battles them so hard.

‘If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble’ - Bob Hope

Last blog in the series next week – Anger!

Thank you for all the messages and comments, please keep them coming

Lots of love

Scott

Part V - Gluttony

‘Gluttony is not a secret vice’ - Orson Welles

To start off this week’s blog the dictionary meaning of gluttony, is when you eat, drink and take intoxicants more than you need to, with extraordinary waste.

This is a Christian sin, and when researching and deciphering the usual associated fire and brimstone verses I came across an amusing excerpt from a Christian website.

Synopsis

What it is: Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.

Why you do it: Because you were weaned improperly as an infant.

Your punishment in Hell will be: You'll be force-fed rats, toads, and snakes.

Associated symbols & suchlike: Gluttony is linked with the pig and the colour orange.

Of course the above is absurd, but does not really deal with the cause and effect of gluttony, there can be many issues as to why one person over indulges for gratification, over another.

Eating feels good! food is meant to taste good, and we are meant to enjoy it. However, there becomes a line when the basic hygiene need of enjoying refuelling and nourishing your body is in conflict with the end user, who see’s this time as the only outlet of pleasure.

This is someone who now associates food with pleasure, and will continue to feed that feeling. They will salivate and gorge to the point of no control.

The signs and symptoms of this become abundantly clear, with excess weight, low self esteem, no fitness and no energy.

The no energy part comes from your body’s motor functions resting to conserve energy, for your automatic functions to work overtime to digest all the food in the system. The quality of the food is also a factor, as the sugar content gives a temporary high, which of course comes down. The end users mood darkens and can only be lifted with additional sugars or calorific content.

The viscous circle of gluttony with food can easily be substituted with alcohol and intoxicants (drugs prescribed / illegal).

So gluttony can be a cry for help, but pails in comparison (sin wise) with my next example. It would be fair to say that the judgement (dogma) with relation to gluttony does come from an order that do live, let’s say, a more Spartan lifestyle! – I am talking about organised religion

The example that we shall look at is no more than a feast, or more modern attack on what we would call a Dinner Party. This is representative of people using food (excess of) to demonstrate their social status, and the issue of waste is not considered. The security of having more than enough food has been an accusation towards the wealthy for many years.

Whilst this does have a whiff, of the first sin that was the subject of my first blog in the series, Jealousy (envy). It is the waste element and the presence of the ego that is the offensive part.

Now I am not advocating the abolishment of social gatherings of food, however to do so to the point of excess, is vulgar.

The world we live in gluttony is prevalent, we have collectively been outraged at the sheer contempt our elected MP’s have shown with expenses, coupled with the hypocritical 30% pay increases of all union leaders that highlights that gluttonous behaviour is the sickest vice of all. Sure, greed plays a part but socialising with food and liquor and searching for greater eating experiences is pure ego. The abstract idea and description of this, is gluttony.

So in summary how does one succumb? I think St Thomas Aquinas summed this up perfectly with the 6 ways to commit gluttony.

Praepropere - eating too soon.
Laute - eating too expensively (washedly).
Nimis - eating too much.
Ardenter - eating too eagerly (burningly).
Studiose - eating too daintily (keenly).
Forente - eating wildly (boringly).


We live in the Western society, and the rest of the world does see us as fat gluttonous pigs. This is the shadow that we cast, regardless of our best defense of our actions, perception is reality.

However, all is well. The good news is that we are only responsible for our own behaviour. The simple mantra of enjoying food because it is nourishing and gives us energy is the primary goal of our existence.

Food does not equal happiness; once we associate food with emotions then the result will certainly be gluttony.

My top line quote from Orson Wells was quite apt, bearing in mind that he certainly was a portly gentleman who did of course personify gluttony. It is a very droll quote, with a hint of self loathing.

The blog next week does follow on quite nicely and will be Greed.

I apologise for not posting my blog on the usual day and time, I am afraid that my health was not quite as it should be. I am sure that it is nothing that a few star jumps, ice bath and a bowl of soup would not sort out.

Toodle pip peep’s..........................

Part IV - Pride

“I think national pride leads to nothing but wars and hates” - Johnny Rotten

Why is pride a sin?

Surely it is an emotion that portrays someone’s self worth, which has been attained through hard work?

It is surprising however that Pride is considered the original sin, and the one which all others derive. In essence it is the desire to be better than everyone else. All you have to do is to examine its synonyms arrogance, self-importance, conceit, superiority and my favourite description smugness.

There is a Hyacinth Bouquet in all of us, but reduced down, it is an emotion that outwardly projects our temporary high position that covers our insecurities.

The old adage of being house proud is not without personal sacrifice on the portrayer’s part. I am sure the endless cleaning, mowing and dressing like a stepford wife do have its downsides. I would hazard a guess that loneliness, lack of self worth and possibly alcoholism would be prevalent behind those ever so well presented and clean doors.

There is nothing wrong in living in a clean and tidy environment, the trick is not to be smug about it.

I hate smug people (yes, need to work on that emotion) and someone who is self made, I have been looked down upon and could say that it has affected me. However, I could fall into the trap of demonstrating the same behaviour as my abuser. These blogs could be deemed that, so the pitch, tone and the place where I am coming from need to be pure and free from pride.

A wicked irony indeed.

I also need to be self effacing and not throwing newly attained internet, DVD and literature gained wisdom to everyone. and come from a personal deep place that is sincere and honest.

I like what William Penn said about pride “Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire”. There is however a caveat with that statement and it alludes to the notion that only the poor can be the enlightened. This is simply not true as there are many altruistic and truly wealthy individuals and foundations that donate lots of their time and money. I feel that it does come from a good place. This we should put aside our cynicism for.

There is however the flip side as of course there is also great truth in what William Penn says and it is summed up beautifully but quite brashly by John W. Foster “The pride of dying rich raises the loudest laugh in hell”
This quote is worthy of a blog on its own as we can all see the futility in this quote, the pride is constant but you can insert most scenarios or metaphors and see the nonsense that pride can bring.

For example, looking after my family and supporting them stopped me from becoming a millionaire and such like!

The pride in being successful in a small way, and maintaining it, is of course the issue. Pride in this case is the fancy robes for fear, and they cover this four letter meanie quite well, but every sin has FEAR molecules pumping around its evil black heart.

I love the parody of middle England in the sitcom ‘Keeping up Appearances’, and the undeserved smugness of Hyacinth Bouquet does overspill towards contempt for just about everybody. There were however incidences when her pride quickly turned into fear and that was when her unwashed common (in her eyes) family visited, or someone more afflicted with pride than her crossed paths with painful insincerity.

The whole thing of course is just one-upmanship and is f life’s cruel never ending game that two individuals affected with original sin, will never give up playing. Thomas Fuller said it best “Pride will spit in pride's face”
This is something that is often confused for principles, and no doubt why millions of people have died in wars across the spectrum of time. There are other traits involved and not so clear cut, however pride is the catalyst. Maybe Johnnie Rotten in the headline quote is onto something?

So does pride make us feel good or look good? I feel the latter, and agree with Thomas Merton who states that “Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real”. This is indeed a sobering thought.

Pride is an emotion (sin) that we need to let go, and the Lester Levenson Sedona method is a great example of how to do this.

First he identified what he calls the Scale of Emotions and is as follows.

Peace
Acceptance
Courageousness
_______________
Pride
Anger
Lust
Fear
Grief
Apathy


You see that there is a line separating Pride and Courageousness, this does symbolise that there is a fine line between them both and our natural happy state need to be with the first three emotions.

The information is freely available, and led by the infectious Hal Dwoskin (you tube) and in a nutshell you train yourself in all scenarios where you feel pain, are stuck, have emotional trauma to ask yourself the following questions.

Could I let this feeling go?
Could I allow this feeling to be here?
Could I welcome this feeling?

If you was to answer NO to any questions, then you re-question, and ask would and when?

Have a look at the site http://www.sedona.com/

I hope that pride does not stop you from looking, as we can avoid the FALL and not submit ourselves to such an old cliché.

I sincerely thank you for reading, and appreciate all feedback I receive. I have three more blog posts on this subject and have covered Jealousy (Envy) Lust, Sloth & Pride. This does leave Gluttony, Greed and Wrath

Toodle pip y’all, and see you next week.

Message me any feedback

Scott xx

Part III - Sloth

‘Thou seest how sloth wastes the sluggish body, as water is corrupted unless it moves’ – Ovid

Guess who is back? .........................................

I have been on a sabbatical, so I apologise for not writing a blog post last week. Today’s post is carrying on with the theme of the seven deadly sins with the topic this blog is, Sloth!

Quite ironic due to my slackness in writing last week, but apt. So what is sloth? The dictionary definition is below.

“Habitual disinclination to exertion; indolence; laziness “

I will not set of the hypocrite alert, and my own lassitude, and learned apathy towards exercise has been developed over many years.

How did we get to this stage?

Was television? ....... The schools system? ........... Was it our Parents? ........ The Government? ......... Lack of role models? ......... Or is it glandular?

I think the clue is in the dictionary description, and is habitual. I have spoken on a previous blog about habits. If you do something 12-times it can become a habit, do it for more than 30-times it can become a lifelong habit.

So what is sloth? I suppose for this blog’s purposes, someone who sits in front of the television every evening. The thought of exercise is a mere fleeting flicker in their mind, with the guilt numbed by sugary snack food. Thus a viscous circle ensues.

Ok, so without judgement and to generalise. We are all in the situation where we are carrying too much weight and have no energy to exercise. The underlying causes are irrelevant, however the viscous circle forms.
We try and get out of our viscous circle by applying artificial energy; this is usually in the form of sugar. Although the delivery system does leave some side affects which actually worsens the situation. The sugary food does give us energy but we crash quicker than before. The mind is tricked and suggests more energy. This brings us many highs and may lows – The chocolate SMACK as it is commonly known.

So sometimes we reach the point where we want to change, we have already tried quick fix sugary fixes to motivate us, and this has actually made our situation worse. The next point is to look at how we can change – there is a lot of stuff out there, which promises big change for little effort.

Atkins diet, weightwatchers, calorie counting, psychotherapy, hypnosis, support groups.........

There is the excuse as to why people get this way; glandular, genetics, injury..............

To simplify this all in a summary, is that we all have developed a habit; that is hard to break.

To stop over eating, laziness, lack of energy or the blog title, sloth, can be overcome, not by a fad diet or any shortcut.

The sloth in us is telling us all one big fat lie and that there is a magical formula out there, some miracle system, so undiscovered super food, some mystical meditation, some angelic affirmation, the secret of all secrets that is the elixir of life and path towards happiness

I can however give you a shortcut, and that is to ignore everything above, eat what you want and just read the following paragraphs and you will have more energy, lose weight and live longer.

I first want to draw your attention to Newton’s first Law of Physics, specifically motion - states that in order for the motion of an object to change, a force must act upon it, a concept generally called inertia.

The force terms is important, and hope you can appreciate why it is underlined. Force is the derivative of momentum with respect to time. What this is stating is simply, that constant motion over a period of time can force an object (you) to change.
The term inertia can have two meanings and more simply states that an object (you) will stay in constant motion or constant rest, unless acted on, by a force.

Is this a light bulb moment? You will only change, when you are constantly trying to change and in this analogy with regards to sloth. Your body and energy will change when in constant motion.

Your body does need rest, however this is the purpose of sleep. We are designed to be in constant motion. It is a fallacy that we need to be in a state of rest, and this belief is drawn from constant lack of motion. We then crave food so that the body can then create energy; however this is only burnt off through our automatic nervous system, such as the stomach, bowels etc...

The energy from this causes us to be in a state of rest and makes us lethargic, thus bringing is back to the viscous circle.

So my top tips.
1. Eat what you like! – You burn off what you eat that’s the deal. Sugary foods bring you to a high, then you crash and it makes you lethargic
2. Remain in a state of motion – You can sleep at nights. Constant rest requires greater force to restart and can make you lethargic (Do it 30-days in a row, then it will be a habit for life)
3. Eat little any often – It is better to maintain, than to refuel when empty. Eating a large meal makes you lethargic
4. Drink plenty of fluid – dehydration makes you lethargic and your kidneys cannot filter toxins and makes you lethargic

Sloth is a choice, maybe a subconscious one, but we can consciously get out of it.

Thank you for reading and look forward to next week.

Laying in bed with a bag of crisps ........

Scott xx