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Myths, legends and folktales about pots of gold or buried treasure pervade every known culture. Capitalist societies have their own refined version in the form of what might be called the Corporate Dream, which is the symbol of oligopolistic or, better, monopolistic control over the so-called munificent marketplace. Yet all cultures also are distrustful of greed. Every religious value system admonishes the greedy. In Judaism, one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shall not covet,” which forbids envying, and lusting for, the possessions of others. In Hinduism greed is one of the six passions that harm one's spiritual life. In Sikhism greed is one of the “Five evils” one must shun. Christianity proclaims greed (or avarice) to be one of ‘seven deadly sins’. In Buddhism, greed is one of the three demons of defilement. In Islam the Quran despises the greedy miser. Besides condemnation of greed, all cultures uphold an idealized image of the pious individual (‘guru’, ‘holy man’) who attains spiritual enlightenment and is beyond the pale of the desire for need for physical possessions.
Despite such condemnations, greed undeniably also enjoys a subtle sort of legitimacy too. In ancient Athens, greed, in the form of imperialism, was legitimized as an appropriate means to ensure the city-state's prosperity and dominance. Wealth, as a means of paying for defense, helped to keep in check, if not dispel, the justifiable fear among Athenians of being annihilated by Persian (and rival Greek) enemies. The ‘spirit’ of contemporary corporations pursuing profit does not differ much from that of classical Athens, insofar as greed is regarded as a sound means to overcome the fear of loss and/or annihilation by competitors, or bankruptcy (Sievers, 2012). Greed is the emotional motor that powers the contemporary capitalist economy, though it is capitalism as a structure that demands and nurtures greed, regardless of what any individual capitalist wants. Greed is believed by its acolytes to b