But greed is human. Get use to it and learn how to handle it.
ONE MAN’s GREED ... Is another man’s ENLIGHTENED SELF INTEREST!!!
I guess to COMBAT GREED ...we must SPREAD THE WEALTH AROUND??
Greed is fine and normal. Envy is the dangerous vice - it destroys both those that practice it and those that are targeted. Good news for Dems - envy is the most powerful of all vices when marketed wholesale.
Greed is certainly not good. However, it is a reality. As fallen, sinful creatures, most people will try to get as much of what they want, with the least amount of effort.
In a perfect world, everyone would work hard to be productive as possible, even if it gained them nothing and would look out for their neighbors. However, we live in a far from perfect world.
Captialism acknowledges this and harnesses the power of greed (or in a milder form, “self-interest”)to increase productivity, innovation and prosperity. It is imperfect, but is the worst economic system, except for all the others.
The main function of the government should be to do what it can to ensure fair and free markets by preventing thieves and cheaters from corrupting and destroying markets.
Looks like nothing but TROLL BAIT!!
This article needs to be shouted from every Grade School, High School, Community College, and Higher Institution in America! Remember, it was Judas Iscariot who was about the redistribution of wealth to feed the poor (as long as he got his cut). Jesus said, “the poor you will always have with you...” (John 12:8). Ask 100 High School graduates if they even know who Adam Smith was. If one person knows, you are lucky. Great Article!
i THINK AMERICA’S CAPITOLISM WAS BASED ON THE SAME PRINCIPLES AMERICAN SCHOOLS WERE FIRST BASED UPON, THE PRINCIPLES OF THE HOLY BIBLE. GREED IS NOT GOOD. HOWEVER, THE WORLD IS AN EVIL PLACE, AND PEOPLE CAN BE TOO EASILY INFLUENCED WHEN DENIED KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S LAWS.
NEVER BEFORE HAVE WE WITNESSED THE RAMPANT EVIL ABROAD IN ANERICA, NOR IN THE WORLD TODAY. WE ARE WHERE WE ARE BY SATAN’S DESIGN, MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT. THE ONLY WAY BACK TO A SMOOTHLY FAIR METHOD OF EXCHANGE IS TO BRING THE BIBLE BACK INTO OUR SCHOOLS AND DOMES OF LEGISLATION. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.
Coveting others peoples wealth in the name of victimization or exploitation is also non virtuous.
Greed is an over-rated fault(sic). At that, the opposite of greed, altruism, is a myth. Everything we do is based on some sort of self-interest. Generally, greed is defined by the one who wants to you sacrifice of yourself for them. To paraphrase a great philosopher, ‘whoever tells you that you must serve them out of selflessness is speaking of servants and masters, and they intend to be the master.’
Gecko said, “Greed, or lack of a better word, is good.”
I think he should have used ambition or another ‘better word’. But it wouldn’t have had the negative impact on captialism the movie had intended.
I have found few good definitions of ‘greed’.
Capitalism or free enterprise compells individuals to engage on their own free will.
The goal should be exchanging value to value. Each value determined by the individuals or creation of value to exchange to enhance one’s standard of living.
The ‘invisible hand’ as Obama puts it is now the ‘government hand’. Central planning fails everytime it’s tried in the US. I guess he’ll have to find out the hard way.
Excellent article. Those who insist that capitalism is all about lying, cheating, and stealing as much as possible, are more likely to be following David Ricardo's twisted interpretations of Adam Smith.
“It was immortalized by the character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie ‘Wall Street,’ directed by Oliver Stone. Michael Douglas played ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko, a charismatic villain who insists that ‘greed is good.’ Gekko was Stone’s scathing embodiment of capitalism, seductive and selfish to the core.”
For the record, the line is, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” The middle part is important. Everything Gecko says from there on is perfectly fine. He’s obviously talking about rational self-interest, amibition, and so forth. And there’s nothing wrong, by the way, with hostile-takovers of terminology. Free marketeers, for instance, gleefully embrace the word “capitalism,” which was popularized by Marx, and in the beginning wasn’t a good thing.
“Greed,” of course, has been around longer than “capitalism,” and people are less likely to accept redifinition. Stone plays with a stacked deck, of course. He gives free marketeers what they want to hear, except the word they’d prefer to use to describe it. So he gets away with throwing them a bone, all the while ensuring the remainder of the audience will come to his conclusion (i.e. that capitalism is bad).
I do not believe greed is good. I do, however see nothing wrong with being wealthy. Job, Solomon, Abraham were all extremely wealthy. The Bible gives us some rules re sharing our wealth with others but this is meant to be the choice of a generous heart not the mandating by a greedy government.
Greed is the gathering and keeping of wealth without even the thought of helping out others.
Jesus makes it plain that those who are wealthy and wish to hold on to all they have are going to have a hard time getting into heaven.
Mel
Thank you for this post. I have been trying to get the conservatives here weaned away from the foul libertarians for years under the fear that conservatism would go down the drain with the idiotic Wall Street mess and the wealthy worshippers.
parsy, who says yes you can be a conservative while progressive on economic issues
What could better than a movie maker, sitting at the top of the capitalist food chain, making movies critical of capitalism? Are these guys for real? Do they really believe their rhetoric or are they entirely cynical? Too rich.
Plus anyone who cheers up from NEWSWEAK cannot be trusted.
It happens. Good or bad, it's just a part of who we are.
Capitalism is the best economic framework when founded on moral conservatism. If a capitalist nation rejects the ideals of moral conservatism, that nation will become a fascist state and dive toward destruction.
There are greedy socialists, communists, muslims, atheists, Christians, men, women, too.
It is not the sole property of any group.