How does society today reflect the values of the Midas myth?

Question

anonymous · Answer

The King Midas myth contains the classic "greed prevents thinking ahead" theme which is present in many stories about near-sighted wishes. Midas was so excited by the thought of endless wealth that he did not consider the consequences of his wish, even when warned.

Even more specifically, Midas chose to trade the beauty of the natural world for material wealth; he was thrilled when even his roses turned to gold. Much of modern society reflects this in our eagerness to destroy nature in exchange for lumber, oil, minerals, etc. But as Midas found out, the old saying is true, "You can't eat money" and even his food turned to gold. 

Some people think this might be the consequence of too greedily exploiting nature without heeding any warnings.