The Economics of Greed

If Buddhist leaders themselves are not able to reduce their greed, what do you expect from others with no dharma knowledge? Why do you think our world now is facing so much problems and as we know, cancer and other illnesses seem to be on the rise. More and more people are getting sick. And it is not surprising considering there is so much greed in society. This greed is even more pronounced during the festive season. They take the opportunity to increase the selling prices just because it’s chinese new year even though there is no increase in the price of their raw materials. The Ang Ku kuih (a type of local cake used for prayers) that used to cost 80sen, is now 90sen. Drinks are also increasing. And so are other goods and services. Even barbers charge for cutting hair by an extra RM1 to RM2. When raw material prices increase by 10%, they increased their prices by 20-30% or more. But when prices drop, do they drop their prices too? No. If this is not greed, what is? This is ridiculous. It is pure greed and eventually they are going to suffer the consequences of their own actions. Many people have resigned to the fact that this is due to economics, i.e. supply and demand. Well, yes, it’s the economics of greed!

Even without the GST (Goods and Services Tax) scheme, there is so much greed and cheating and fraud being committed, with the introduction of the GST scheme next year, the scenario may be worse. Buddhist leaders and businessmen (women included) must not be stupid. The positions Buddhist leaders hold are not theirs forever. Business people cannot expect to reap obscene profits all the time. When karma ripens, you will be held accountable to your own actions. That’s for sure. When cancer strikes or tragedy strikes your family, you go crawling to the Buddhas for help and mercy. When death approaches, and you start to see the fires of hell burning, cancer will seem a minor problem to you comparatively. Think about what I wrote in my poem seriously – “Greed –drenched soul".