Like an undetected sickness lurking in the body, America is infected with the deadly sickness of greed. It has crept into our government, our financial systems and even our churches. Greed eats away like a decaying tooth, but usually isn’t removed until the pain is felt. Since the big news of Wall Street a few weeks ago, it seems that greed is getting a lot of attention. The average American is recognizing that corporate giants are not only taking advantage of loose governmental regulations, but they are taking advantage of them. Too many of us have allowed our minds to get dull and fall into a state of robotic slumber. We don’t question, we don’t press the issue and we’ve stopped thinking for ourselves.

Greed has rotted away many of our trustworthy foundations; our police force, our non-profits and our governmental leaders. Greed has a way of sneaking in, planting its seed in the secret darkness of the soul. Little by little it begins to grow, one decision at a time, till it appears as a deep rooted tree controlling the thoughts and actions of the mind.

Yes, we are all watching Wall Street and the effects of hearts filled with greed, but greed is found in the fabric of our society. Capitalism at its core teaches us to fight to the top, to compete and win at all levels. We are raised in this country to be the best we can be, and for many that means cheating, lying and deceiving to make it to the top. This is revealed in the outrageous salaries of CEO’s, who make 300 times the amount of their average employee.

The problem is our unsatisfying desire for more. We want and don’t have so we covet and scheme ways to get it. This is best demonstrated through the nation’s credit card obsession. Many societies around the globe find it absurd to purchase something you can’t pay for, yet that is the very premise our society operates on. Our desire and greed blur our vision and understanding so we make irrational financial decisions for a short thrill of buying something new.

This happened to me all the time. I too am an American. I was raised in this country with its wayward philosophies of climbing the corporate ladder. I too see this sickening disease in my own blood. I want a flat screen TV but I don’t have the money to purchase it. The TV tempts me and tempts me till I go to the big box store, defer my payment on their credit card and get a “high” for a few days and the excitement wears off. Like a drug, I have to keep purchasing new items to keep my high and give my life some sort of purpose and excitement. This is greed.

It’s found in everyday life, everywhere. Like a cancer in the body, we cannot escape it, we have to fight it. Greed is not going to go away with wishful thinking or sermons in our brain against it; it will only be cured with the constant fight of the will to say, “no.” No, I will not buy what I can’t afford. No, I will allow someone else to get ahead of me for the sake of the greater good. No, I will not eat to my max capacity, while the world is riddled with starvation.

We each have a human responsibility to the greater good; the greater good of our neighborhoods, our families and our society. We must expose the root of greed in our own hearts individually, thus affecting the whole. The rich of our country has preyed on the poverty of the poor which is to our demise. When those with a lot do not share a common responsibility with those in need, a society will eventually crumble.

Let true freedom grip the hearts of every American as we lock arms and find the true secret that it is better to give than to receive.

By: Joey Papa

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It’s quite sad to see how the cancer of violence has eaten deep into the fabric of today’s society. You turn on the news, you hear of people being gunned down in schools, shopping malls, on the street etc. Gangsterism is on the rise in many cities, guns are sold like candies in every nook and cranny – this is quite lamentable and absolutely a woeful state of affair. How can we rid today’s society of violence? What is your take.

By: OGB

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