Passion in the Sphere of Instinct: How Greed Works in the Social Subtype

The sin of Greed, characterized both by the passion of withholding and the act of not giving, appears peculiarly in the social subtype. Being a very reserved and internally distant person, he is, of the three E5s, the most open to exchanges and the most available for contact. However, this exchange is based on his intellectuality and the expression of his knowledge. Even in relation to this, the Social 5 is greedy: he does not reveal everything he knows; he keeps his valuable treasures in the chest. As the Church Fathers reveal to us, greed is not only for land and possessions, but also for glory and knowledge—spiritual and intellectual knowledge.

Knowledge is his playground and, at the same time, a lifeline against the feelings of insecurity and inferiority. The excess of intellectuality protects him, reducing the tension of the fear of not belonging to society. Since the social instinct is directed towards confirming belonging, first in the family and later in social groups, the approach taken by this character is not to be the protagonist but to observe from a distance and absorb all forms of knowledge. Not only the official knowledge of books and theories but all the knowledge that can be acquired through his attentive gaze and abstract intelligence. He stands out in social media for always having a wealth of knowledge on hand, which not only makes him important but also protects him from his delicate and fragile emotional core. Thus, the old feeling of loneliness and isolation is replaced by a sense of self-importance and belonging.

His lack of trust in bonds keeps him away from intimacy. The strange sensation that he could be devoured by the other and the mistrust that he may be loved keeps him away from contact, believing that it is not worth engaging. A fearful greed, with the fantasy that in a relationship, something of himself will slip away, leads him to the catastrophe of having nothing left.

"I remember once, after finishing reading my texts, I prepared to circulate among my audience so they wouldn't get too close to me. Interestingly, when I was leaving, someone handed me a piece of paper that said, 'Be careful on the island.' This shocked me and made me realize that I kept myself isolated from everyone behind an invisible boundary." - Sergio V.

In a defense against pain and frustration, he prefers not to create expectations and gives up easily on attachments. There are few people he truly trusts. He invests his energy in the search for an object beyond what human relationships offer.

This loss of trust in relationships is a reflection of a wound in the basic emotional bond, as the maternal presence was replaced by a feeling of emptiness, and as a reaction, he adopted a pathologically distant attitude. The Social 5 has developed a psychic defense capable of forgetting love; on the contrary, he disconnects from his emotional needs and, consequently, from his own ability to love.

Thus, this subtype has the same attitude as all misers in holding back from desires, impulses, and wants, and the need for contact. He is demanding of himself and takes a long time to find the path to self-love and abundance. He constantly suffers from the demands of his ideal and, when it comes to his well-being, he doesn't choose the easiest paths.

He presents a great attachment to himself and a strong resistance to surrender. His pain will not easily reveal him. It is easier for a socialist to share their ideas than to reveal something about their intimacy or what they may be experiencing at the present moment. Sharing knowledge does not mean a deep exchange; on the contrary, it can even push him away from relationships, making him distant.

"As the years passed, I realized that the quest for autonomy and intimacy was part of my character. As for knowledge, I almost always developed it on my own, without having to turn to other people. I wanted to learn on my own, develop on my own, create on my own, and not suffer any external interference on what and how to think. I dedicated all my concentration and interest to mastering ideas to maintain the feeling of possessing something unknown. I liked the fact that, at times, this became something inaccessible to others." - Sergio V.

The Social 5 struggles to develop genuine generosity. His greed is overshadowed by the shadow of his Totem, which denies all his selfishness and attachment. But in the end, he is someone who is not available for the other, who, from the top of his ivory tower, observes the world without getting involved or committed.