Comment | Finns consider the coalition, social media influencers and apartment investors to be greedy – and there are echoes of history in that

In ancient Greece living playwright Aristophanes in comedy Wealth (c. 388 BC) the Athenian Khremylos with his slaves addresses the god of wealth, Pluto.

Plutos says that a person can learn to be careful of greed if it is aimed at things like love, music, figs or other joys. Instead, a person never gets tired of coveting riches.

In its recent study, the communications agency Tekir found out Finns’ perceptions of greed. Like Plutos, Finns also consider the lust for money as a sign of greed.

77 percent of the respondents considered committing economic crimes to be greedy. Waste (43%), over-indebtedness (32%), tax planning (21%) and happiness (20%) also received a lot of mentions. Criminals and politicians were considered equally greedy (44% and 43%).

The coalition was considered the greediest of the parties (34%). The view of leftists’ greed was divided between the sexes: 22% of men thought they were greedy, and 10% of women. In the countryside, greed was associated with social media influencers (44%), in the capital region with apartment investors (26%).

Question of human greed has plagued thinkers From Plato To Laos, of Augustine Thomas Aquinas and About Luther To Montaigne. Belief systems around the world warn against extravagance and extravagance.

That’s why it’s interesting that the communications office is asking Finns about it right now. Where does the typical Finnish concept of greed come from?

“These days, important things and greed, on the other hand, are probably considered very different things than just a few years ago. We need to know what irritates and weakens the public’s trust – i.e. where the core of the next uproar may lie”, Tekir’s CEO Riikka Kouhi says in the announcement.

Protestant in Europe, the ethics (and aesthetics) of being satisfied with a little moved to a new kind of greed concept, largely with the development of industrialization and global capitalism.

An Englishman who was the central theorist of capitalist capital accumulation John Locke (1632–1704) considered that unused property is a waste and therefore an outright crime against nature. In Locke’s thinking, nature becomes the property of the (white) person when he refines his environment with his work. Labor-acquired wealth is value and progress, not greed.

Tekir’s research also found out which things Finns consider most important in their lives. Lockean thinking can still be seen in the answers.

Money and work are the most important things in life for more than a quarter of Finns (26% and 28%). Just as many consider those who refuse work to be greedy. On the other hand, the idea of ​​great, passively accumulating wealth and flaunting it also makes me cringe. Greedy people are considered greedy (52%), the super-rich (46%) and large international companies (44%).

Perhaps surprisingly, more Finns value faith in God (22%) than sex (21%) in their lives. Money and work surpass both in importance.

And in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says:

“Shun all forms of greed. No one can build their life on property, no matter how much there is.”

Tekirin the survey was carried out by the research company Verian, and 1,041 Finns over the age of 18 living in mainland Finland responded to it.