Philosophy
Part I
They say that money corrupts. Or perhaps, to better phrase it, the want of money corrupts.
As a kid, I hated money. I couldn't understand why adults were so obsessed with it. Thinking back on it all, I hated money because I personally didn't need it. I didn't pay for anything. It was my parents who took care of everything.
Now that I'm an adult (more-less, anyway) I think I'm beginning to understand that those stupid slips of green paper actually do keep the world turning. Heck, you wouldn't be reading this essay if I didn't pay for my Internet bill. Of course there are important things that money pays for, like rent and groceries, but then there's entertainment. I'm usually holed up in my apartment because if I go out, I know I'm going to have to spend money on something pleasurable.
I think now would be the right time to admit that I don't have a large income. There are so many things out there that I want but can't have. Well, I could buy them, but I'd be very broke afterward. And when you heap on the expenses of everyday life, I'd be drowning in debt. That's one of the reasons that I want another job: to live without stressing over all my expenses, and to treat myself from time to time, guilt free.
This is where greed, the concept, and Greed, the character, both come in. If you've read up to Volume 21, you know about Greed's infamous little speech that he gives to Ed. If you're not familiar with it, I'll paraphrase it. According to Greed (the character), greed and hope are both desires, but society dictates to us which desires are good and which are bad.
So, can greed (the concept) be good? On first thought, one would give a resounding "NO", but let's examine further by looking at the flip-side of greed, generosity. Why are we generous? To help others. Why help others? To let them live better lives. And why do that? Why bother? What do we care? Because we want to feel good about doing the right thing. It's that feeling of satisfaction, that desire, that makes us want to be generous. Call me jaded, but when it comes down to it, it's all about self-satisfaction.
Part II
Now, on a lighter note, is there really no such thing as no such thing? Prepare for your mind to be messed with.
Let's take something that doesn't exist in the real world. I'll go with dragons. We all know that dragons aren't real. But why do we have a word for something that doesn't exist? It's because it exists in our imaginations.
I think it's safe to say that everything exists as a concept. Like dragons. Or Atlantis. Or the Fountain of Youth. Or beings composed entirely of human souls. So the next time you say, "there's no such thing as [insert concept here]", think about how you just acknowledged that concept, even though you denied its existence.
