From the Latin avaritia, avarice is the desire or disorderly and excessive desire to possess wealth in order to treasure it. From a religious point of view it is a sin and a vice since it transcends what is lawful and morally acceptable.
Greed differs from greed since the latter supposes the excessive desire for wealth, although without the will to treasure it. Greedy beings pretend to accumulate all kinds of material goods but are not willing to spend or share them.
For example: “My uncle Raúl has been saving all his life and, although he knows that he will not live many more years, his greed prevents him from enjoying his fortune”, “Do not be greedy and share your wealth with the neediest”, “Miguel no He could be more greedy even if he tried: he allows his daughter to live on the streets, knowing that he has sufficient means to help her, just because he expects her to get her own money through effort, no matter the circumstances, as he claims having done it in his youth ”.
According to DigoPaul, greed is often linked to other sins or to certain crimes, such as treason, fraud, and bribery. The miser only tries to add more and more wealth and does not know any legal or ethical limits to fulfill his objective. If it is necessary to harm another person or to violate the law, you have no problem doing so.
The link that the miser establishes between happiness and material possessions is condemned by religions, holding that associating pleasure with an object prevents full development on a personal level and takes us away from the spiritual dimension.
Christmas and greed
One of the literary works associated with the celebration of Christmas with the greatest impact worldwide is undoubtedly ” A Tale Christmas “, one of the titles by which the translation is the Castilian of the novel by Charles Dickens called ” A Christmas Carol “, published in 1843 and the subject of countless film adaptations and children’s versions.
Its protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge, is a very greedy old man who leads a sad and lonely life, completely devoted to work, in which there is no room for Christmas. It is about a man who does not see beyond his material wealth, and who is horrified at the mere idea of helping someone financially. The person closest to him, Bob Cratchit, is his only employee and works under conditions typical of the farm.
But Scrooge’s life takes an unexpected turn on the night of December 24, when the ghost of an old friend appears in front of him and tells him that the greed that has characterized him all his life will become a heavy and extensive chain that you will be forced to drag for the rest of eternity. The specter adds that there is still time to change, to save himself from said condemnation, and that for that he must accept the company of three spirits, whom he must follow and listen carefully.
Next, the three ghosts of Christmas appear one by one: that of the Past, that of the Present and that of the Future. Each one takes him through different scenarios of his life, dramatic stories that try to explain the terrible consequences that greed has had for him and his environment, and warn him of the misfortunes that await him. The work of the spirits is not in vain, since they manage to open his eyes. Finally, Scrooge puts aside his contempt for the poor and a strong vocation to help, to share and to pursue inner wealth is born in him, a concept that until now had been unknown.
