Lonely at the Top

The heart of each business is its employees, no matter what the business is – if there aren't people doing the work, the business won't exist for long. To underpay those responsible for keeping the business running is not only a greedy thing to do — it's bad for America as a whole. Employees stopped being paid to care, so they stopped caring. There has been a notable decline in the quality of many American products over the years. Aside from a few standouts, how many US products will be deemed worthy of additional costs imposed by tariffs? Especially when there are versions that are just as good—if not better— and less expensive than the American made version. The US has more billionaires than any other country, yet the quality and craftsmanship of American products has been on a steady decline over the past few decades. And, it's not just tangible products that are slipping in quality — customer service, and salesmanship have also been showing signs of wear — employees are a little less enthusiastic, a little less kind, a little less patient. The problem is we have rich CEOs while the employees that actually run day-to-day operations to keep the business afloat, aren't paid enough to care about the details, or take pride in creating a beautiful product, or care if a client is satisfied. America’s problem with greed has reached a point where it can’t be ignored any longer. America is in shambles because greedy CEOs would rather hoard wealth than build sustainable businesses.

As a society, we’ve looked up to billionaire businessmen and super-wealthy CEOs for far too long. We view them as successful and accomplished — people we should learn from, and emulate. We may have dreamt of living lavish lives where money is no matter. But for most of us, that was just a shallow pipe dream about materialism, power, or status — we don’t really want to be like them — we just envy their financial freedom, and their success. Because, when we lean in closer, we see the dullness in their gaze, and the worry lines etched into their face tell the truth of what it's actually like to be them. The wealthiest people often seem the least happy, content, gracious, and kind. They tend to look haggard, stoop-shouldered, and flat-eyed, as they fret over expenses more than a single mother on a budget. The stress and worry ages them beyond their years, and drains the inspiration from their lives. An inner dialogue looping a narrative that they worked hard for their money, combined with a belief that nobody works as hard as they do, instills in them a sense of entitlement that runs so deep, it ensures they'll never feel sated again.

The real problem with greed though is that it evicts us from our own lives, our own will, it hollows us, and robs us of love, joy, and happiness. Greed — like a drug addiction — cannot be ignored. The victim becomes a husk of the being they once were– and there isn’t anything that can be purchased, stolen, pillaged, or plundered, that will make them feel content again. They can throw expensive parties with the best of everything money can buy. People will show, people want to be seen with them, seen around them, but not actually spend time with them. They're used for their money, and they have to be ok with it, knowing that if their wealth were to vanish – so would the mirage of relationships they'd built. To have to leave this life, surrounded by all the riches in the world, but starkly alone, would be devastating. Sometimes when people want too much, they misjudge and underestimate their powers and allegiances, then when plans careen off track, and luck runs out…they end up with nothing. Less than nothing even. All the riches disappear, and then the relationships based on that wealth come to an end. From everything to nothing, from riches to rags, because they had it all, yet wanted more.

When greed becomes the sole motivation for achievement, things get sloppy. Greed isn’t a stepping stone to success, and it’s not a holistic motivator. Greed is a parasite - when it latches on to a human host, the host becomes powerless to say no. They're stripped of their agency, as they become unilaterally fixated on something — an item, a position, status, whatever — then their days are consumed by plotting how they'll get it. Greed isn’t a sign of strength; it’s a sign of weakness. Greed is insatiable and demands constant appeasement. But what happens when we have everything money can buy? Greed doesn’t just go away. Once it latches on to a host, it embeds itself deep within their psyche. It digs its fiery claws in, and the host is subjected to repeat the same cycle forever. Starting with a pang of desire, that rapidly morphs into a burning need, then the host is forced to fight, or steal, or con because the item must be obtained. As paranoia sets in, they fear that someone more worthy of the item, will come and take it from them, so they have to aggressively protect it. Then they're catapulted back to the beginning, just like Sisyphus and his rock, when a new pang makes their mouth start to water.