Speaking
with a friend earlier today, I found myself saying, “I just don’t understand
folks like that,” referring to those who lie, cheat and steal. My friend said they did understand those people—what drives them. When I thought about it, I realized that I
did as well.
When
I took a moment to think it through, I saw that greed is what drives people
that take from and cheat others out of their hard earned belongings. Whether that is time, money, or possessions,
it seems some just have a hankering for taking from others. So, though I did understand why some do what
they do, I don’t…not really. Allow me to
clarify.
It’s
true that greed is a large driving force behind what makes many do the things
they do. Seems they even manage to
convince themselves that what they do is okay because they’re driven to do
so. But where does that mentality stem
from? How does one become afflicted with
it? Is it something that’s gained by
hanging around others with the same mentality?
Sort of like it’s catchable? Or is
it something that a person needs to make a conscious effort to adopt? And once that choice has been made, do they
spend time honing their new “skill?”
Another
thing I wonder is, does a person who thinks it’s okay to lie, cheat and steal
have a conscious that functions on the same plane as those of us who are
opposed to those things? Or…do
unscrupulous individuals ever have it cross their minds that what they’re doing
might be wrong? Or worse…do corrupt
people even care? And if they don’t, is
that too a conscious effort—their lack of caring? Is that something that comes naturally to
them or do they adopt a cold exterior as a way to shield themselves from the
acts they perpetrate on others?
There
are experts who spend their entire careers pondering these very thoughts never
finding a clear answer. So why should I
hope to unravel the mystery myself? Me,
an untrained individual who merely has countless thoughts bumbling around in
her head that need to find a way out.
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