Unlimited Wants
Darth Vader. Voldemort. Biff. Saruman. What do these villains all have in common? They’re all facing the impossible situation of unlimited wants. You give all these villains an inch, and what do they do? They take a mile. And then they still want more.
Unlimited wants is the habit of never being content with what you have, and always wanting more. Now, this wouldn’t be a problem if everything was infinite...infinite time, infinite money, infinite resources. But that’s just not the case. There are only so many resources to go around, which means that, in the real world, we’re dealing with scarcity.
Mixing unlimited wants with scarcity is like mixing oil and water. You want them to be compatible, but it’s just not gonna happen. What do all villains want? They want power in order to fulfill their dreams. For instance, Darth Vader didn’t want his loved ones to die and suffer, like his mom did.
Now, that’s something we can all relate to. But for most of us, we decide our limited time here on Earth is just something we have to accept. But not for Darth Vader--his unlimited wants facing scarcity are what led him to the dark side. If we look at villains in that light, most villains are actually just slaves to their own unlimited wants--they can’t be content in life, which drives them to extremes. Poor guys.
When we’re not being too self-aware, we think things like “if only I had the perfect set of headphones…” or “if only I made a little more money…” or “if only I could take that trip to Tahiti…” “...then I would be happy, and I wouldn’t want anything else…”
But the truth is: wanting is a habit. Once we get what we want, we get used to it.
New headphones? You’re psyched the first day, and maybe still for the first week...but by next month, the new-ness has worn off, and now you’re wanting something else. You’re on the hedonic treadmill, a.k.a. hedonic adaptation. Hedonic adaptation is the tendency for people to return to their usual state of happiness pretty quickly after a positive (or negative) change has worn off.
Like many of us, Voldemort is definitely on a hedonic treadmill. He had a tough childhood in orphanages, which got him in the habit of seeking what he lacked: security and admiration. He kept getting more secure--with all those horcruxes protecting him from being killed--and he kept getting more admiration--from all of his cult follower Death Eaters.
With each level of increased security and admiration, the effects didn’t last long, and he returned to his habit of wanting more security and more admiration. More, more, more...it was never enough.
Voldemort, Darth Vader, and the rest of them aren’t really villains--they’re just insecure guys who don’t know when to call it quits. They don’t know how to get off that hedonic treadmill of unlimited wants. They just can’t accept that scarcity is a thing.
That’s why villains are always grumpy and flustered, and never happy and content. If that sounds like you...always grumpy and flustered, and never content...consider giving yourself the gift of self-awareness. You’re probably on the hedonic treadmill, and maybe you should consider stepping off for a bit.
Regardless of whether you decide to embody a content Buddha or a grumpy villain, unlimited wants in a scarce world is kind of what keeps our capitalist economy churning. In the big picture, the more stuff that’s bought, the more the economic wheels turn.
Maybe the habit of unlimited wants--the thing most villains have in common--is the hero of the economy. So...it’s okay, Voldemort. You do you.