The Opposite of Fear is Not Greed but Confidence

There is a common belief that stock market prices are moved by the struggle between two emotions -- fear and greed -- as though desiring and working to achieve financial stability and peace of mind was an unnatural impulse -- rather than a natural and healthy impulse of every human being. In that reckoning, fear is seen as good, while greed is obviously bad -- implying avarice and envy.  In this way, fear becomes a virtue -- while the desire to improve one's lot and fortune in life, is regarded as shameful.  Some even claim their poverty as a sign of their virtue -- rather than vice and sloth -- and the wages of sin, that rob them of their own prosperity.

As long as they hold that mindset, they will continue to be poor -- thinking that the accumulation of wealth, should never happen.  Such people, are always at the mercy of forces beyond their control -- because they have no margin for error.  At the first whiff of something not going exactly according to plan, they are ruined -- and may not recover.  They have no resources for resilience; every challenge sets them back.  And so it seems, everyday finds them farther behind.  There is no pulling even -- much less pulling ahead.  Such people, obviously have no confidence -- in the future, themselves, anything else.

They live in fear of every next thing -- being totally unprepared.  Of course, that is not a winning strategy -- or outlook on life.  It's somewhat a matter of money, but it is mostly the lack of confidence to take on anything new or different.  They will continue to do what they've always done before even if it has brought them nothing but heartache and failure.  They prefer the comfort of that familiarity -- to discovering anything new.

There are many different reasons for doing anything -- as there are many different ways of doing anything.  It depends on what they want out of it.  For some, it is just the entertainment -- of winning and losing.  For others, it is to avoid loss as much as possible.  Better yet, one weighs the benefits against the risks -- and goes with the winners, rather than hoping the losers will turnaround.  Those are the winning bets -- by far, as well as the most obvious.  However, many are convinced that all outcomes must be equal -- eventually, if they live long enough, which they hope to be forever.  That too, is not a winning bet.

It is commonly believed, as well as taught in many schools of political correctness, that given enough time, a room full of chimpanzees can type out the complete works of Shakespeare -- just by chance.  That is not the proper understanding of randomness -- for any practical (real world) purpose -- which is the world most people live in.  A few, undoubtedly, live in a world of endless illusion and delusion.  Things are only what they wish them to be -- and so they have a distinct problem, meshing with others.  They may actually in fact, promote "social distancing" as a virtue.  Anything to get people not communicating with each other -- as they don't.  That is the only way they can see of leveling the playing field -- dragging everyone down to their level, or seeing that nobody is allowed to do better than they do.

Of course, that is the mindset of the ghetto -- and anyone trying to climb out, must be pulled back into the hopeless vortex.  That is one kind of social equity -- but it doesn't allow for any greater possibilities -- only the tyranny of the masses.  The mob rules.  Fortunately, individuals are forced out and so have to find a better way.

That is the story of Jesus, Columbus, Martin Luther, Socrates. etc.  They questioned that authority -- and discovered whole new worlds.  That requires confidence and not greed -- and vanquishes fear.  That confidence, is the beginning of everything -- while fear is the signal that the end is near.  Life and growth prevail, no matter how often it has been suppressed, oppressed and persecuted -- by those hoping to remain on top forever.  Life is not that way.  They too will pass -- and life can go on.