Everyday we read of people being indicted for criminal breach of trust of for giving or talking large bribes.These are not small criminals but men of standing in the community-lawyers, administrators, businessmen.The government  were corrupt, taking bribes or using public money in some countries .(i didnt say directly)
Then there are the urban terrorists who kidnap millionaires and demand millions in ransom.It is an Age of Temptation. There are so many goodies in the stores that one wants some of them. Money is not so easy to make so one is tempted to steal. Power opens so many avenues that one is tempted to become corrupt. There is no doubt that the twentieth century is also an Age of Plenty. There are so many shops.They are all full of luxury goods. They tempt the eye.
Greed is to want more of smthing when you have enough.It arises form inner psychological need. Psychologists say it arises from a lack of love.Lacking love , some people are greedy for food others are greed for sex, greedy for possessions, greedy for money of material wealth
Perhaps we can make two indictments on the twentieth century.The biggest indictment we can make is to say that Man has lost his values.In the Age of Science he has lost his belief in God and he has found nothing to replace it .
The other indictment we can make is that Man has not learnt to choose in the Age of Plenty. There are so many things, so let us buy them all and take them home .It is no longer a case of buy and use only what you need.
You can travel to almost anywhere in the world today for a reasonable price. And so we have the set who rush about the world . The film stars change their husbands or wives every few years.Famous people, talented people even , are indulging in alcoholism that has reduced into a mindless people without purpose in life.
It is a sad thing that in the midst of plenty, people are unhappy , because they have not learnt  to choose. They cannot choose because they have no values which they can make their choice. So i would say that greed is a symptom of a more basic ailment and that the twentieth century is an age where man has lost his beliefs and is groping to find new ones. He tries to replace what he hast lost with possessions or experiences, but he soon finds out that they dont bring the happiness he seeks.He is turning to strange religions with sometimes tragic results.Perhaps he may one day realise that he is a social animal and that his salvation will come when he learns to love his fellow men , and thus to love himself.