Have you ever taken extra packets of sugar, catsup or other condiments from a restaurant? Why?

My cat, Hypatia, and I were watching Cat.tv this morning. Hypatia loves Cat.tv. She loves the birds, chipmunks and squirrels cavorting over a log or feeder to get their food. On this particular morning, I noticed something that is not often seen in our human world; each animal took only what they needed and left the rest for the others. There was no bullying behavior, nor hogging all the food. 

I couldn’t help wondering what if this were humans grabbing food? How would ordinary people act in a situation where there was a table of food available for all to eat? Would anyone try to hog the food? Would anyone try to take more than they could use at that moment? I imagine many would not, but I am sure that there are many who would. 

I thought about greed. Where does greed come from? Why would anyone take more food than he or she could consume at that moment? If not consumed within a reasonable time, food would spoil. While I am sure that most people would not be greedy, I am also sure that there are many who would be. Many would seize food for themselves at the expense of others.

In earlier times, before the Reformation and the rise of capitalism, in articles that I wrote earlier, I described greedy people were thought of as insane. Why would anyone grab more land, property or resources than they could use? That’s crazy! In fact, greed was one of the seven deadly sins. 

Today, Wall Street says, “Greed is good.” One is considered crazy if they aren’t greedy. Yet in the natural world, Cat.tv shows us a world where all living beings take what they need and leave the rest for others.

In my previous set of articles, I showed a world, the organic society, where there was a sense of community. Unfortunately, the values that sustained life in that kind of culture were lost when the Reformation, capitalism, and the scientific revolution destroyed those cultural norms. This is especially true of capitalism. Selfishness and greed have taken over Wall Street. 

Even John Locke in his Second Treatise of Government asked why a man would desire more land than he can property care for. Yet today we see miles and miles of corporate farms surrounded by fences with no trespassing signs. Often this land is useless. It lies empty and barren, a product of a poorly constructed capitalistic system.