Consequences Of Greed Research Articles

A Note on the Death of Judas in Papias

In early Christian literature the death of Judas is broadly understood as a fitting end to the life of the betrayer of Jesus. Papias’ description of Judas’ death can be illuminated by comparison with ancient biographical and medical literature, in which oedema and parasitic infections are a consequence of greed, and also apocalyptic texts, in which worms become an emblematic form of divine punishment after death. Viewed in this context the death of Judas serves a pedagogical function as a warning about the dangers of greed.

The Parthian rival and Rome’s failure in the East: Roman propaganda and the stain of Crassus

The consequences of Crassus’ invasion of Mesopotamia in 54–53 BCE were unanticipated and unintended; however, his disastrous failure shocked the Roman world and suddenly established the Parthians as a serious rival to Rome. Moreover, the shame the Romans felt after the Battle of Carrhae was considerable. The battle scarred the Roman psyche and severely damaged the Roman ego. This study synthesizes and investigates what became a vicious and virulent Roman literary tradition of anti-Crassus propaganda, examining how numerous Roman writers over the course of numerous centuries used the dead and disgraced Crassus as a convenient scapegoat to help explain Rome’s failure to dominate the East and subdue the Parthian rival. It demonstrates that these writers ignored the legitimate causes for the First Romano-Parthian War (56 BCE – 1 CE), which Crassus had inherited, and illustrates that the disaster at Carrhae became a popular moralizing lesson about the consequences of greed, impiety, and hubris.

Dynamics and Logics of Civil War

This article reviews the literature on civil war. We focus on the most recent period of scholarly activity, beginning in the early 2000s when the publication of prominent quantitative studies triggered a surge in the empirical research of civil war as a well-defined conceptual category. We identify three explanatory logics that have dominated much of this literature and that view civil wars as a consequence of greed, grievances, and opportunities, respectively. We evaluate the arguments and findings of these theoretical approaches with respect to each of the main phases of war: outbreak, wartime dynamics, conflict termination, and postwar recovery. The article concludes by identifying key challenges confronting future civil war research. In particular, we emphasize the continuing need to advance theories that bridge the main explanatory logics as well as the different phases of conflict. Researchers should also pay more attention to defining the appropriate spatiotemporal scope of their studies.

Animals′ Role in Proper Behaviour: Cheŵa Women′s Instructions in South-Central Africa

The most common role of animals in the Cheŵa culture of south-central Africa is twofold: they are regarded as an important source of food, and they also provide raw materials for the creation of traditional medicines. Animals, however, also have a nuanced symbolic role that impacts the way people behave with each other by embodying cultural protocols of proper — and not so proper — behaviour. They appear repeatedly in storytelling and proverbs to reference qualities that people need to avoid or pursue and learn from the moral of the story in which animals interplay with each other, just as humans do. For example, someone who wants to prevent the consequences of greed is often advised to heed hyena stories and proverbs. My contribution elaborates on Brian Morris's instrumental work in south-central Africa, which has permitted us to elucidate the symbolism of certain animals and the perception of landscape for Indigenous populations in this region. I discuss some of the ways in which animals have been employed to teach and learn proper behaviour in a particular sacred ceremony of the Cheŵa people which takes place in celebration of womanhood: Chinamwali.

Religion and Environment: Evaluating the Role of Religions inthe Nigerian Environment

Religion and Environment are presented as vital aspects of the life of a nation. This is because they both affect the life of the people of the nation. Religion has to do with the spirit of humankind as well as the god he believes in. Religions come into being as a result of the search by humankind to have a link between him and his god. In Nigeria, Christianity and Islamic religions are the two prominent religions, even though a large number of other traditional religions exist among the people of diverse tribes. Five major environments are recognized, with the natural environment being in the prominence for meeting both the basic needs of people in other environments besides providing a large number of other useful services. It came into being with the existence of the planet earth. Other environments such as the socio-economic environment, the built environment and the political/governmental environments, are the creations of humankind, made possible by his unique endowments. The spiritual environment is the environment within which the spirit being of humankind operates, in the process of accessing the Almighty God. Religion influences all the diverse environments in diverse ways. Christian religion in particular, teaches about the consequences of greed, corruption, violence and injustice in the environment. It also makes it clear to humankind that the Almighty God frowns against them. Instances abound in the bible where He has punished them. It therefore behooves humankind, to remember that he will one day give an accountof his actions in the environment within the planet earth, to his maker – the Almighty God.

A New Era Of Responsibility

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S Inaugural Address was an inspired and sober call to action, not a laundry list of programs, as was appropriate for the occasion. The address, however, indicated that our new President is acutely conscious of the important science, technology, infrastructure, and education challenges our nation faces. Early in the address, Obama said, “Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. ... Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many—and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.” Later in the address, the President said, “[W]e will act not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that ...

Poor Ebenezer: avarice as corruption of the erotic and search for a transformative object.

Charles Dickens’ (1938) story, A Christmas Carol, is a cautionary tale about the consequences of a single-minded, greedy pursuit of money. It is, as well, a parable of a transformation from the self-imposed isolation of avarice, and its concomitant sense of deadness, to vital companionship. In the story, Ebenezer Scrooge’s greed is accompanied by a vicious and sadistic hostility that leaves nearly everyone, even dogs, running for cover. A reader is not initially moved to pity Scrooge, but can readily recognize the poverty of his existence. Although a wealthy man, he is indeed poor and only after being confronted by the Spirits does Scrooge acknowledge how his avarice has made him poor. Although a greedy character does not evoke pity, Dickens, like any good writer, was able to make Scrooge into a sympathetic, though pitiful, figure. The late-night visits by the Spirits help us see how loss, loneliness, and the fear of further loss motivated Scrooge’s greed. In this article, I briefly review Western views on the problem and consequences of greed before delving into psychoanalytic perspectives on greed. Philosophical and Western Christian depictions of greed provide insights into the dynamics and consequences of greed in human life. Many of these insights are con-

Peace: Piece by piece

In the 1960s it was called the antiwar movement. The pervasive tone was righteous indignation at a wrongful war. Sometimes anger took over and the demonstrations of that day became violent, destructive, and negative, very much like the war we were protesting. The 1970s were called the “me decade.” After the intense activism of the sixties, people felt a need to pull back and examine their personal lives. The social protest movements begun in that period—the women's movement, the gay rights’ movement, the gray panthers’ movement—were reflections of the reassessment of power and exploitation on the home front. There is a general feeling that the 1970s and early 1980s were a time of mass apathy and hopelessness. But, in fact, wasn't it really a case of people being genuinely overwhelmed by the enormity of the social, economic, and ecological consequences of greed? By the mid‐1980s the immediate imperative to deal with the environmental and nuclear dangers surrounding the planet and humankind became clear. It...