Greed is a strange thing. It makes people act in strange ways. I present to you a case study.
How would you feel about receiving $25,000? I'd feel pretty good. And John Schnatter, Papa John from Papa John's Pizza, gave that to a couple from Indiana named the Soalnes. Schnatter was running a promotion to find his old Camaro. He offered the owner of the Camaro $250,000 and the Soalnes owned the car before selling it to Jeff Robinson. The Soalnes helped Schnatter get in contact with Robinson. Schnatter gave $25,000 to the Soalnes for their help. And now the Soalnes want more then that little sum. The Soalnes are threatening to file a lawsuit.
Sometimes I don't understand why people can't be happy with the good fortune the receive. Sure $250,000 would have been much nicer then $25,000 but to sue because you where given free money, just not enough of it, seems disgusting. Now it is easy for me to say this, I'm not out almost a quarter of a million dollars because I didn't hang onto a Camaro for a few extra years.
I just ask that everyone take some time to appreciate what we receive in life. It is over too fast.
Papa John gets sued.
MY TWO CENTS
ReplyDeleteGreed, I believe, stems from very natural roots. When humans were hunter gatherers before the development of agrarian methods, they would collect food stuffs, delicious nuts, berries, etc., to last through harsh winters. This is not too different from modern savings accounts and bonds. As America approaches its own "harsh winter," i.e. the falling economy, it does not surprise me that there would be a spike in greedy tendencies.
In no way am I saying that this justifies the obvious avarice of the Soalnes, but it does provide motive for such actions. If there is a large crash in the economy and America enters a new depression, we will see the true nature of humans more clearly as necessities become luxuries.
The Bible says that greed is a form of idolatry since individuals deify money. There are inherent problems associated with making your higher power something as insubstantial as currency, yet many still cling to the "money is happiness" belief. It will be interesting to see the way churches of all faiths intervene as the economy wobbles and shudders.
Greed is a fundamental human emotion. We must overcome it. But money is only an intermediary to objects, it facilitates trade. Money is essential to meeting basic needs in our world. Meeting our needs brings a certain amount of happiness but the only thing that builds long term happiness is helping others. Hopefully our society will be able to realize this during our economic struggle.
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