After years of observing it, I still cannot help but be amazed sometimes at
how simple the reasons behind humankind's problems are. Time and time again,
I see most of the ills in our world stemming from one main human failing: The
desire to keep gaining more. People simply do not seem to have any concept of
sufficiency. If everybody took only what they needed from the world, there
would be enough of all life's necessary resources for very nearly every
living person.
  The problem is so difficult to deal with because many people do not even
see it in themselves. Most people rise gradually in the world; They begin at
the bottom, or fairly near to it, and work their way up. As time goes by,
they gain more at such a slow pace that they do not even realize when they
have gone beyond the point of necessity.
  For a person who is homeless, penniless, and hungry, it does not (or at
least, should not) seem unreasonable to try and get a job, any job, something
to be able to afford some food to eat.
  To the person who can afford food but not a stable place to sleep at night,
it does not seem unreasonable to try to get an apartment or some other place
to stay.
  For the person who has a place to stay and food to eat, it does not seem
unreasonable to want to get a car. After all, how can you get around in a
modern city without transportation? You can get an older car that's not
flashy but still in working order for just a few thousand dollars, perhaps
only half a year's worth of work once you account for basic living expenses;
And oh, how much easier life is when you have a car!
  Then, once a person has a car, it seems reasonable to want a slightly
better job. Perhaps to gain a promotion to a slightly higher company position
with more responsibility (and a corresponding small increase in pay).
Although the person has everything they need to live at this point, they do
not want to be a lowly labourer for the rest of their life; They would rather
be a supervisor or manager or something else higher up. And so they begin to
climb.
  Eventually, the person gets a slightly better job if they work at it
enough, and then it feels like it's time to get something better, perhaps a
better car. That old car wasn't cutting it anymore anyway, perhaps it seems
on the verge of breaking down, and a nice new (or almost new) car seems a
better and safer way to drive. And so they work extra hard for a better set
of wheels.
  Of course, eventually the person gets tired of living in a small apartment,
and they start looking for something better (and, of course, more expensive).
Perhaps a larger apartment with a few rooms... It's not asking too much to
have a separate living room and bedroom..... Is it?
  I could go on and on. The cycle does not stop; People never stop wishing
for better things in life. It seems only a logical way to go: Why would you
stop and remain where you are, when there's always something more to aspire
to? In the timeline traced above, none of the desires seem overtly greedy. A
large apartment (or even a separate house) and a nice new car is not a huge
thing to wish for, but when everybody in the world desires these things, the
world's finite resources become strained.
  Time and time again, I see the cause of poverty as being people who desire
more than they need. If everybody in this world really wanted nothing more
than food to eat (which is really all you need to live), there would be
abundance for everyone.
  If anything, the imbalance serves to show what a lopsided sense of
judgement people are capable of having... For in the end, it does all come
down to a matter of judgement. Each person must judge for himself or herself
when they have enough in life, and when it comes time to stop striving for
more power and position for their own selves. Yet very few people ever
actually decide that they have enough and start thinking about the position
of other people; Power is just too infectious, once you have some, it's hard
to stop wanting more.
  Then, too, there's always the big question: What *would* people do if they
suddenly stopped because they had enough? If they stopped climbing in the
world, what *would* they do with the rest of their lives? This is a difficult
question, to be sure, but there are things in this world to strive for which
do not cost others anything. Knowledge, for example, is free: It costs the
world nothing for you to educate yourself. Indeed, quite to the contrary, you
may be a greater boon to other people if you educate yourself, because then
you understand people better. (I am speaking now, of course, of true
education, not the kind of fake "education" that is associated with
institutions like universities.) For this reason, I believe that rather than
striving for wealth or power, people would be better off seeking to increase
in wisdom and compassion; Rather than trying to rise higher in the world,
people would do better to grow inside, improving their personal selves. This
is the kind of gain that everyone can achieve without taking away from
others; Knowledge is not like a sandwich, if you take it from someone else,
they do not lose it. Rather, they simply spread it.
  The problems in our world are caused by people choosing means of success
that depend on taking away from other people. When people seek to grow in
ways that augment not only themselves, but also the community of humankind
around them, the world as a whole can truly grow, rather than being the
battleground that it is now.