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tblue37

(68,449 posts)
Mon May 18, 2026, 05:41 PM 12 hrs ago

I believe that the drive to amass more & more wealth, no matter how much the person already has is

actually a form of hoarding, and that hoarding itself is driven by a runaway, out of control version of the drive for survival--the urge to accumulate, store up, and protect the stuff needed to survive. I imagine there are animals that also continue to collect and store up way more than they could possibly use, even if the drive to do so interferes with other important things they must do for their lives and well-being.

I also consider such wealth hoarding to be a form of insanity.

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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I believe that the drive to amass more & more wealth, no matter how much the person already has is (Original Post) tblue37 12 hrs ago OP
It is a money addiction and sadism. Irish_Dem 11 hrs ago #1
Addiction is what I think too. raccoon 11 hrs ago #2
.... markie 11 hrs ago #3
One of the Deadly Sins: GREED dave99 10 hrs ago #4
It's definitely a mental illness. Everything wouldn't be enough. patphil 10 hrs ago #5
Agree! KT2000 9 hrs ago #6
Me too. They are addicts. travelingthrulife 9 hrs ago #7
In my theorizing, it's a form of arrested development nuxvomica 9 hrs ago #8
"Money doesn't talk, It swears!!!" Ford_Prefect 9 hrs ago #9
I'm a bit pathological, also. I can't hold on to what I've gathered. erronis 9 hrs ago #10
They're thieves too purr-rat beauty 9 hrs ago #11
Or given the haste at which the pace to redistribute wealth away from the middle-class and poor ffr 9 hrs ago #12

Irish_Dem

(82,312 posts)
1. It is a money addiction and sadism.
Mon May 18, 2026, 05:48 PM
11 hrs ago

There is not enough money in the world to fill the holes in their souls.
They will destroy the entire world and the inhabitants on it to meet
their insatiable need for money and power.

They also seem to enjoy hurting others with their money grabs.
The narcissism and sadism are off the charts.

patphil

(9,225 posts)
5. It's definitely a mental illness. Everything wouldn't be enough.
Mon May 18, 2026, 07:35 PM
10 hrs ago

It's an attempt to compensate for a low sense of self worth.

KT2000

(22,220 posts)
6. Agree!
Mon May 18, 2026, 08:11 PM
9 hrs ago

Also, after a point, they lose connection to the part of the brain where there should be empathy. Their need to accumulate more over-rides the belief that other humans are nothing more than useful to acquire more.

nuxvomica

(14,200 posts)
8. In my theorizing, it's a form of arrested development
Mon May 18, 2026, 08:16 PM
9 hrs ago

When people fail to discover their own powers through rites of passage, they remain immature in adulthood, consigned to a continuous twilight of childhood, in which the world seems to be growing ever darker. Unable to engage with the world as the hero, they only have their appetites to guide them and need more power, wealth or weaponry to feel safe. We all seek the bliss of innocence, that state in which the benign self can be fully expressed, which is characterized by honesty, playfulness and wonder. The hero, the wholly realized mature adult, finds that bliss by protecting the innocent, so that the innocent may grow and learn, and one day become heroes themselves. Otherwise, they fall to corruption, the state characterized by sham, drudgery and fear. Curiously, this idea has been expressed in an apocryphal quote attributed to Gandhi: "Be the change you wish to see in the world." It is the singular duty of the hero, the adult human, to transform the world into a safer place for the innocent. All our other duties arise from this one. Myth and literature have guided us to this understanding for millennia because it is not an assured progression from innocence to heroism. The hero is always reluctant, the challenges are great, but transforming the world is one heck of a reward.

The theory is useful, especially in politics, in that it makes it fairly easy to identify who is a champion of innocence and who is a slave to corruption. In playfulness alone, compare Obama, with his wry sense of humor, and Trump, with no sense of humor at all.

erronis

(24,521 posts)
10. I'm a bit pathological, also. I can't hold on to what I've gathered.
Mon May 18, 2026, 08:19 PM
9 hrs ago

I've had a reasonably secure life. Growing up in a middle class family and having decent jobs. I just never cared about acquisitions. I liked things, true - but I didn't mind giving them away. If you need something, I'll share what I can.

Trump and his ilk would call me a sucker.

purr-rat beauty

(1,443 posts)
11. They're thieves too
Mon May 18, 2026, 08:21 PM
9 hrs ago

Not just hoarding.....stealing their wealth either through crime, favor, or denial

They are the locusts

ffr

(23,448 posts)
12. Or given the haste at which the pace to redistribute wealth away from the middle-class and poor
Mon May 18, 2026, 08:25 PM
9 hrs ago

is inline with a more sinister plot, given the world's depleted natural resources.

Ask yourself, could you imagine tRump and the other billionaires carrying out a fictional Hugo Drax plot? At this juncture there would be no cavalry to save the day, tRump is our government.

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