The selfishness that defines us

It is inevitable that at some point (or many points, depending on the person), the selfish human mindset makes one so grasping that they couldn't care less about their neighbor—less than a damn, even. Their sole objective becomes accumulating more and more of everything, at anyone's expense. Some even manage to hoard so much that they would need to be cats with seven lives just to have enough time to spend it all. Though it is also true that many, despite having too much, don't know how to enjoy it; they spend their lives working and denying themselves many indulgences—when they can actually afford them—only to end up as the richest people in the graveyard.

There have been cases of people dying in squalor while hiding thick stacks of cash under their mattresses (and honestly, it's no urban legend). In the end, it served no purpose other than making the bed softer and, given their stinginess, saving them the money they would have spent on a proper mattress.

Many people know how to make money, but fewer possess the knowledge of how to spend it—and above all, how to enjoy it. They are so incredibly miserly that it pains them to part with even one of their shiny coins (some even polish them so they shine brighter, staring at them mesmerized for hours as if they were a valuable stamp collection), when the truth is they possess hundreds of thousands of them. Yet, despite all that monetary power, it won't help them escape the final fate that awaits them; in that regard, they are exactly the same as the poorest of human beings.

It is a curious thing: many multi-millionaires swimming in a sea of gold seemingly haven't realized that this all comes to an end. Their economic power allows them to have everything—cars, jewels, paintings, high-class debauchery, butlers, chauffeurs, Beluga caviar—everything except buying more time.

What a shame!

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