How much land does a man need?

'How much land does a man need?'

The question was posed in a short story, written by Leo Tolstoy, with the same title. The short story portrays the tale of a man who jeopardises everything including his very life in his quest for lands. 

In the short story, the protagonist Pahom lives from hand to mouth and hankers after property (mainly lands). Upon hearing about the generosity of the Bashkirs who dwell in a faraway land, he makes a journey to that estate. 

The Bashkirs offer Pahom that he can claim as large an area as he wants with a measly amount of just one thousand rubles. But the condition is that Pahom will have to walk around the area and get back to the starting point by sunset. 

Elated by such a lucrative offer, he starts walking and does not stop until he gets tired. 

When he realises he will have to make it back to the starting point, it gets quite late. However, he somehow manages to arrive at the starting point by sunset. But by the time he reaches there, no life force is left in him. He drops dead without even being able to enjoy the trappings of his fortune.   

The fate of Pahom is not only tragic but also a stark reminder of the ultimate truth – no matter how much we earn, we all are destined to die one day. This also brings forth a pertinent question as well as a dilemma regarding our excessive greed for wealth or property. Do we really need mountains of wealth to live a fulfilling life? 

The question posed in the title of this piece is more pertinent in our current context. How much a person actually needs in a lifetime? 

After the ouster of the autocratic regime, it has been revealed in different media reports that some influential people amassed huge wealth. Some people have resorted to all sorts of shenanigans to make a fortune by taking loans from the banks. 

According to a piece of news published in this daily, Salman F Rahman, former private sector adviser to the recently-ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has taken around Tk36,865 crore loans from different banks in the name of his company. 

Meanwhile, the owners of S Alam Group and its associate companies have taken around Tk95,331 crore from different banks. Seriously, almost 1 lakh crore! I cannot even imagine how much space is actually required if someone wants to pile up this mind-boggling amount of money. 

Despite accumulating such a huge amount of money, these people did not stop. They would keep taking loans and accruing their wealth if the former government continued its streak. 

The question is what would they really do with such a staggering amount of money? And most importantly, what is it that motivated them to long for an infinite amount of wealth? Is there any psychological or philosophical explanation? 

A quick read of the essay "My Wood" by E M Forster might help to understand what really goes on in the psyche of those who yearn for unlimited wealth and property. 

Forster, the author of the famous novel "A Passage to India," bought a small forest with the royalties he received from his seminal novel. That small property had profound psychological impacts on him. 

Propounding the ideas and experiences he gathered after owning the property, he penned the essay "My Wood." One of the effects is that a small property or even huge wealth instils the feeling in someone's psychology that it ought to be larger, insinuating that wealth makes someone endlessly avaricious as he/she wants to taste all the sweetness of property depriving others. 

This probably explains the psychology that drove people like Salman F Rahman, Benazir or Harun to gather as much wealth as they could. 

In sociological terms, this can be defined as 'the malady of the infinite.' The person who is amassing wealth might see no problem with his/her tendency to long for an infinite amount of wealth, but this kind of inclination could turn out to be toxic for society and the state in the long run. 

It's because creating scope for a few to pile up extreme wealth (leading to income disparity in a society) is an antidemocratic practice. In situations like this, the extremely rich and influential people do mala fide abuse of their power and position to exert influence over the government organisations and sway policies in their favour to take advantage. 

In the long run, the wealthy arrogant elite class gets the opportunity to grind down on an increasingly desperate working class. 

This is what happened during the Hasina regime. A few people were given a chance to make a fortune, depriving others of their rightful shares. This led to growing resentment among the masses which was clearly evident in the eyes of the people, including working-class people, who joined the protesting students in the final phase of the uprising. 

In plain words, the excessive greed of some people has also contributed to the overthrow of the Awami League-led government. 

The truth is that you cannot really exhaust all your wealth in a lifetime if you are super rich. The best approach for a state in this regard is to maintain the balance between the wheels of capitalism and socialism so that the necessities and desires of the individuals can be fulfilled while achieving the greater good for all. 

The state or any government should refrain from providing any undue benefit to anyone or vested quarters to make a killing or amass mountains of wealth which will not be used for the greater good. 

In fact, extreme wealth accumulated by individuals ultimately goes in vain. After all, six feet from his/her head to his/her heels is all that someone needs at the end of life (as answered at the end of Tolstoy's short story).  

It is the perfectly obvious, yet seldom realised truth. When will we actually understand the fact that all of us, irrespective of our wealth and properties, will have to meet our maker empty-handed?    

Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat is a columnist who likes to delve deeper into the human psyche and social incongruities to explore the factors that influence these.  

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard