![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/eric-kim-providence-2020-09-3-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"Hand](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/eric-kim-providence-2020-10-3-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nFor example, let us examine trees. What do trees want? They want to grow taller! They strive for ascendency. They want more sunlight and nutrition and resources, and grow their roots ever deeper, make their bark ever thicker, and make their trunks ever bigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Tree\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/back-eric-kim-providence-2020-06-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\")
Observe how trees grow. What does a tree want?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Why so much talk about anti greed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Selfie](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/back-eric-kim-providence-2020-16-scaled.jpg?resize=682%2C458&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat I desire to combat is our over-obsession about morals and ethics in modern society. Obviously we need some base level morals and ethics for us to live in society to not all kill one another and steal from one another (private property is a good thing). But when we talk about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153greed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, what are we really trying to say?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Greduz<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in Porto-German means to desire, to hunger. This word also comes from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ger<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Proto-Indo-European) which means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to yearn for\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Related terms include \u00e2\u20ac\u0153horior<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (to encourage, to urge), and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153khairo<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (to be happy and full of cheer, to rejoice)\u00e2\u20ac\u201d all which are really great notions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My thought \u00e2\u20ac\u201d when we are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153greedy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for something, the root notion is to literally be hungry for food. But perhaps in the past, when we ate \u00e2\u20ac\u0153too much food\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (beyond what was necessary for survival), it did a positive harm to our clansmen who also needed to eat food to survive. But in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world of hyper-abundance, because I eat a pound of meat doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean you starve. I can eat a pound of meat, and so can you! This brave new world has a theoretical unlimited pie<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/eric-kim-providence-2020-06-2-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhy gain?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many of us have been told the commandment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thou shalt be small. Thou shalt not speak up. Thou shalt obey. Thou shalt take up as little room as possible, and thou shalt be as small of a nuisance to others. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In Chinese (the root of a lot of Asian thought), there is a notion called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e5\u00b0\u008f\u00e5\u00bf\u0192<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (small heart) which can be translated in many different ways \u00e2\u20ac\u201d be careful, pay attention to the small details, etc. But etymologically speaking, I find this notion interesting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thou shalt have a small heart.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In what physiological sense is having a small heart a good thing? If we think about great warriors and leaders \u00e2\u20ac\u201d don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we consider them having a great heart, a big heart, and a grand heart?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Selfie](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/back-eric-kim-providence-2020-18-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nGreed and dissatisfaction are different <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In the past, I used to believe it was dissatisfaction which spurred us forward and towards action. Now I believe in more subtlety. It isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dissatisfaction\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (negative emotion) which is the spur. It is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153greed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (positive emotion) which is the spur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But once again \u00e2\u20ac\u201d let us not think the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153greed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153greedy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in moralistic \u00e2\u20ac\u0153evil\u00e2\u20ac\u009d terms. Greed is the natural human desire for more\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and we should delight in this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Red](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/6D5D6035-E6BD-4C7C-8B70-BBEFF2DEBED4.jpeg?resize=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBecause if we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t desire more, or if we weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t greedy for more, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we all still be in caves eating acorns, instead of making artwork with digital hyper computers, and inventing things on the internet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ERIC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Principle of life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d being greedy for gains? The insatiable desire for more?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/E7AAFDB1-ED83-4B85-8B61-833AD74410C4.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205442"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205460,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205442\/revisions\/205460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}