Ogre got me on that damned soapbox again this morning.
Today he has a great post about how Money is NOT the Root of all evil. For me, all evil boils down to greed.
Not just greed for money or things. Greed overall. A person can be greedy for power, attention, success.....anything. Being overly concerned with having the most of ANYTHING is not good.
I avoid people like that to all degrees. For one main reason. You can't trust them.
Someone greedy for power (a few examples come to mind with that one) will do ANYTHING to optain and maintain that power. They have no soul, it is replaced by greed. No amount of reasoning will offset that greed. They cannot be trusted. Period.
Someone greedy for success falls into the same category. They will step on anyone, use anything to make themselves look good. (I've worked with more than my fair share of those assholes.) They don't realize you are only as good as those that you surround yourself with. It is nothing for them to lie and/or sabatoge someone to make themselves feel that much more successful. They cannot be trusted.
Someone greedy for attention is less of a threat but no less aggrevaiting to be around. They will humiliate people at the drop of a hat. Anything to achieve "Hey Look at ME!!!". While not necessarily dangerous physically or professionally, it is annoying to have to listen to that shit all the time. And have you ever notice how they have a difficult time holding a real conversation? Every answer is about them, how it effects them, how they feel, them them them them them. I just want to play that Toby Keith song "I wanna talk about ME".
My Grandpa always told me that we should strive for more. Always work towards being better, growing. But NEVER at the expense of others. The back you stab today may be attached to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. (ok that last bit is all mine, but it means the same thing.) That goes for every part of our lives; politics, career, friends, family. Life in general.
I choose to surround myself with those I can trust. I want to know that I don't have to constantly watch my six. It comforts me to know that I take pride in the type of people I have in my life.
Greed is bad. Wanting more is fine..........just look at the root of it and make sure it's not at anyone else's expense.
Posted by Tammi at November 19, 2004 08:57 AM | TrackBack"Someone greedy for attention... ever notice how they have a difficult time holding a real conversation?"
Absolutely. If you're a half-way decent student of human nature, facial expressions, and body language, you can spot the attention whores quite easily. They've learned the social skill of letting you have a turn during conversation, but everything about their posture, face, vibes, etc. screams, "I'm not really listening to you, I'm just taking a second so I can think of what I'll say next to make myself look important/intelligent/powerful/whatever." People like that annoy the hell out of me.
Posted by: Jeff at November 20, 2004 06:53 AM