2009 – 7th Grade 5th Place Winner.

Audrey Kristufek, Minnesota.

Greed or Giving: Which has a greater impact on Society?

In my opinion, Greed impacts our society more than Giving. Greed inspires us! It influences everything we do. I think that greed is people's main motivation. Without greed, we wouldn't get anything done.
Greed affects everything we do. Some might say that greed is only about thinking about yourself. I don’t see if like that. Without greed, there wouldn’t be much giving. No one would want anything they don’t need, and they wouldn’t want the things they do need for themselves. That would make it very hard to give. You also might give to make yourself feel better. In a way that is greed. Everything we do is affected by greed.
Greed impacts our economy. People want to buy things they don’t really need because of greed. Only some things we buy really help us. I think that greed applies to the things we want now more than ever. For example, there are a lot of new electronics claming to help make our lives easier. We always want the newest technology. It helps our economy grow when we try to keep up with owning these latest electronic devices. People work harder to make more money to buy more things to make their lives easier. In this way, greed affects the economy and our whole world.
I think that greed is our motivation to do everything. Some things don’t come easily. If we really want something, we need to be motivated to work to obtain it. So in this way, greed is a HUGE motivator. We are always pushing to get the newest thing.
Giving, on the other hand, has its root in greed. We usually only give away things we don’t want or need anymore. Hardly do we give away the things we still love or have to have. We are greedy, still hanging on to things that are important to us and never giving these things away. In these ways, greed even affects what we give.
Greed impacts our society more than giving. Greed affects how we look at things, it affects our economy, and it can he a HUGE motivator to get things done. All of these things affect us. A healthy amount of greed can be very good for everyone. Greed is good for our society, and affects us all.

Kids Philosophy Slam Home Page