2009 – 6th Grade 3rd Place Winner.

Aathamika Krishnan, California.

Greed or Giving? Which one has a greater impact on the society?

Greed is the excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth. Giving is to present voluntarily without expecting anything in return. I consider ‘Giving’ has a greater impact on the society because it brings happiness, brother hood and unity throughout the population, spreads wealth throughout society and it improves the standard of living for people.

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give” said Winston Churchill. Different people in the world have different standards of living. Some of the families live well below the poverty line. The act of giving allows the receiver an opportunity to lead a better life by the gift they received while the giver is in a state of happiness that he could help someone in need. The people that are presented with gifts know they are cared for and are hopeful of their dreams coming true. If this process of giving and receiving is continued all around the world, the society will be full of happiness, brotherhood and unity. The society will be peaceful, less violent and prosper collectively in many areas.

“Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live?” said Bill Gates. “If we were aware we would want to help out, we’d want to get involved”. This is an example of how 2 billion people have the ability to share their wealth with the under-privileged people. Corporations give a portion of their profit to non-profit organizations which in turn give it to the service of the community. People donate part of their earnings to charities that give food, clothes and shelter and spread the wealth. According to recent research, 89% of all US households contributed to charity last year which makes me belief stronger.

There are many different types of giving. They include: contributing time, knowledge, gifts, shelter, food, organs, money, respect, and love. These forms of giving affect everyone in different ways. For example, if I give the gift of education to someone, it is possible that they will get a good job in life and in turn, they will teach other people that are in need of education. One can donate one’s organs with the hope of saving someone’s life or replacing an ailing organ.

There is an old saying that a man will say “enough. don’t need more” for one thing and that is the food he consumes. For everything else, he yearns for more and wants to possess or acquire more material things. This greed causes fear, jealousy and violence between those that have and those that don’t. As an example 50 million jobs will be lost because of this huge financial crisis caused by few greedy people. On the other hand, giving has a long-lasting effect on happiness and promotes goodwill and prosperity throughout society.

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