Greed is the downfall of man

The collapse of Lehman Brothers was due to the intellectualized greed with a series of financial instruments used to justify the unjustifiable and create abundant personal gain in a shortest time possible. People just got more greedy and crazy in their endless obsession to squeeze every cent of profit that they ignored the perils of taking on too much risk. If any good will to come out of Lehman's downfall, it is a cautionary tale to the big players to be vigilant from making big bets on shaky investments. Didn’t anyone learn a thing or two from the collapse of Barings Bank in 1995 brought about solely by Nick Leeson?

This current financial crisis is by far the worst after the Great Depression in 1929 where thousands of investors lost large sums of money and many were wiped out and lost everything. The ensuing period was ranked as the longest and worst period of high unemployment and low business activities in modern times. Banks, businesses and factories were closed and millions of Americans were jobless, homeless and penniless. Many people have to depend on the government or charity to provide them with food. The Depression became a worldwide business slump of the 1930's that affected almost all nations. It led to a sharp decrease in world trade as each country tried to protect their own industries and products by raising tariffs on imported goods. There were changes in leadership and government. In Germany, poor economic conditions led to the rise to power of Adolf Hitler. The Japanese invaded China, developing industries and mines in Manchuria. Japan claimed this economic growth would relieve the depression. This militarism of the Germans and Japanese eventually led to World War II.

Greed is the most influential concepts of man. Nothing is enough, the constant need for more of whatever it may be, even when faced with the fact that we may never need that much of any one thing; we still seem to need more of it, just so that we can feel superior to everyone else. When Thaksin entered politics to promote his business interests, he succeeded spectacularly but the consequences of his hunger for money and power also proved his undoing and downfall. History has repeated itself one time too many. Greed primarily led to corruption and bribing that brings the downfall of man. At the end of the chain, there is only bloodshed and destruction on the issue of wealth. Man still fight for economic gains like natural resources etc. To acquire wealth, man will do anything – murder, bribe, loot, damage nature and ecosystems. Numerous lives are lost and destroyed. It brings out the devil in man. Hitler’s insatiability of power to prove the superiority of the Germans lead to mass killings of the Jews. Hence, inhuman behaviour is also the result of greed.

Downfalls are brought upon not so much as predetermined fates but ambitions to reach an unattainable goal and foolish choices. If greed becomes the foundation of mankind, are we looking at the possibility of World War III?????