NEED OR GREED?

I came across a quote from Mahatma Gandhi who said, “In nature, there is enough for every one’s need, but too little for one’s greed.”

I hear about the economic situation and corporate bailouts and I wonder, need or greed?

I hear about military spending (which in 2008 was about $1.7 trillion worldwide) and I wonder, need or greed.

I hear about churches that build multi-million dollar facilities on vast acreages of land (or the Dallas Cowboys who recently completed their new stadium at the cost of $1.15 billion!) and I wonder, need or greed?

At a time when affordable health care for all is being debated, when poverty and hunger still run rampant in our backyards and around the world, when schools are closing and teachers are being laid off, when diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis kill thousands daily, I wonder if the world's greed is standing in the way of caring for some very significant needs.

I recently read that if just 10% of the world military outlays, or 20% of the U.S. military expenditure were diverted yearly, we could fund programs that would end poverty by the year 2015, ensure that adequate health care was available to everyone, and end the spread of deadly diseases. Isn't that a better way to invest our money? Or maybe I'm just being greedy.

What do you think? Let's chat!