2009 – 6th Grade Honorable Mention Winner.

Sean Uribe, California.

Giving or Greed: Which has a Greater Impact on Society?

While giving does play a large part in society, I believe that greed plays a larger role. There are four major reasons why I believe greed plays a larger role in society. First off, greed has often lead to corruption and violence throughout history. The want for more land and resources has led many countries to warfare. While war may seem like a good idea at first, it just ends up in destruction and death. Also, many people commit crimes, such as drug dealing and robbery, because they are greedy. If humankind could focus more on giving than greed we surely would be better off.
The second major reason why I believe greed plays a larger role in society is global warming. Selfishly wasting energy and dumping tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each day equates to greed. Many South Pacific islands that inhabit humans such as Fiji, will be washed away as sea levels rise, due to our acts. Many resources are dwindling away because mankind is too blind to see what horrible things it is doing. Worse yet, fossil fuels, human’s greatest power source, are expected to disappear in the next 50 years. People must stop the overuse of coal and fossil fuels if we are to make a turning point.
The next major reason why I believe greed plays a larger role in society is the endangerment and extinction of species that exists. Humans kill thousands of animals to make clothing for the global market while many species are driven to extinction. Even though multiple laws are passed to protect endangered species, many poachers still hunt them to make a quick buck on the black market. Many animals are killed for just one body part, such as elephants are killed for their ivory tusks, and the rest is left to waste. Native Americans used to respect the animals and wouldn’t let a single piece go to waste. We have to understand that there are certain limitations to everything if we are to protect the many animals on this planet.
The last major reason why I believe greed plays a larger part in society is the direction of our economic downfall. For example, the greedy men on Wall Street helped put America into a financial crisis almost as bad as the Great Depression itself. The greedy acts of a few people can greatly affect a country, and in turn the world. What’s distressing is that some people commit greedy acts even though they know it’s going to affect others around them. If people just took the time to realize that greedy acts affect everyone, we as a country would be in a much better place.
I have chosen to answer this question because if we do not realize what harm greed can cause then many more devastating world-wide problems will occur. I hope that one day humankind will cease being avarice.

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