275-300 word reply Organizational Ethics

The most influential source in today’s society is greed. When I turn on the tv and watch any type of game show, I see greed and consumerism advertised at a mass scale and accepted. It seems that a lot of people are willing to do nearly anything, just for the chance of winning money or items for themselves. This greed epidemic is partially the cause of American’s promotion of consumerism. Consumerism is a bad societal philosophy that encourages greed, whereas consumption is something we all do. We consume, acquire, buy, use supplies. We have to in order to stay alive. Consumerism, on the other hand, is the collective mentality to encourage consuming things you do not need just for the sake of buying them. Consumeristic cultures encourage its people to continue consuming goods and services at an ever greater amount. It is the thought that: bigger is always better, buy the biggest house you can afford, or that one should buy the newest iPhone, even if your current phone works fine. This mindset is greedy by nature.

Consumerism is bad because some people get so absorbed in what they have, and the never ending pursuit of getting even more stuff, that they define themselves and others by what they have acquired. This endless rat race of buying just to have the newest/ biggest/ best fashion item, house, car, or technology and it will not leave us feeling fulfilled. It actually leaves us indebt and feeling as though we are not good enough because there is always a want that is not yet filled. We live in a culture that values spending over saving. This mindset leaves millions of people in debt while “trying to keep up with the Jones” and it depletes our environmental resources at a unreplenishable rate. Our greedy culture also encourages white collar crime which “does more damage in monetary and emotional loss in one year than violent crimes do over several years combined” (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2017, section 6-5, para. 1). We cannot take the money or the items with us. The more resources we spend, the less we leave for the next generation. “What God demands in our discipleship is trust and obedience. The reward of discipleship is freedom from the greed that accompanies the bondage to material possessions” (Cowen, 2006, p.94).

A culture, such as ours, that values greed, goes against Christian values. However, as long as Christians keep following God’s word and remain aware of the greedy culture we live in, it should not hurt our relationship with God. While I spoke much about greed in the monetary sense, greed is also a problem when people think about themselves rather than caring about another person’s feelings. We should remember to give generously and to not idolatrize money, wealth, or ourselves. We should only see money as a tool to further God’s plans and purposes for us, but not as a measure of our success. Through Bible study and a close support group of Christians who are aware of the beast of an issue that greed can become, we can control our desires and life a happy satisfied life with less.