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Posted on 05/25/2026 9:41:41 AM PDT by Redmen4ever
Quote of the day by Michael Douglas: 'Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies and cuts through to the essence of the evolutionary spirit'
(Excerpt) Read more at economictimes.indiatimes.com ...
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Check this for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AZtk3z5aYM
The actual quote communicates that there is something problematic about greed, not that greed is itself either good or bad.
It's would be like saying, "laziness, for want of a better word, is good." Because we value efficiency - or, getting our work done quickly - we (meaning, the inventors among us) seek labor-saving methods and, so, we have developed a high standard of living.
Similarly with greed, because some of us are entrepreneurs, we seek profitable opportunities. Unfortunately, we don't have a word that differentiates this good aspect of greed from seeking to profit at the expense of others by short-changing others through fraud.
Wall Street, the movie, is great cinema specifically because it shows Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and others succumbing to various temptations (fraud, other forms of deception, illegal insider trading and bribery), while claiming to work on behalf of workers, bankers, municipalities and other stakeholders.
Now, let's consider the misquotation. Is the misquotation mere laziness? Or is it fraud?
In the body of the referenced article, it actually correctly includes in the quotation "for want of a better word." Why didn't the headline at least put "..." into the quotation?
Because ambition is universal, or nearly so. Even, ambition to be holier than thou. Is ambition to be holy another one of those problematic things, that can be warped and turned into something bad? I'll just say the devil is relentless. Consider what C.S. Lewis says in The Screwtape Letters.
We don't believe we can rely on the goodness of men. In accord with Federalist #51, we set up a system of checks and balances so that ambitious men are checked by other ambitious men.
The pursuit of profit restrained by law and morality is good. (I paraphrase what Milton Friedman actually said).
Not that anybody asked me, but in response to that, here’s my quote of the day:
1 Timothy 6:10 NLT
[10] For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Enterprise is not greed.
Greed is bad.
Judas Iscariot was unavailable for comment.
Globalism is bad. Enterprises have to loyalty to any flag, only to profit.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, our Corporate Anthem”
Laissez-faire capitalism is the only moral social system because it protects individual rights, including property rights, through a limited constitutional republic...........
Our founders understood that without individual religion, both our free government and our free economy would fail.
I call the American system Christian Capitalism.
It is capitalism in a system of Judeo-Christian values.
Those values recognize the value of individuals and their rights under God.
Remove the Judeo-Christian values and you get: Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon.
Elon Musk, in spite of his current lack of religion, is the Epitome of Christian Capitalism.
I call the American system Christian Capitalism.
That train left the station a long time ago.
And coffee is for closers...
Laissez-faire capitalism is the only moral social system
As long as the Capital stays in the country.
To me, Greed is greatest of all sins and crimes, as it can lead to all the others
Better word(s): Self interest.
Self interest is not greed and is how the free economy works - beautifully.
Ayn Rand understood a great many things. She wrote well and influenced many.
Unfortunately, she was a committed atheist who did not understand the limits of human nature on the borders of society.
She died a bitter and lonely woman. I recommend:
Judgment Day: My Years with Ayn Rand by Nathaniel Brandon
https://www.amazon.com/Judgment-Day-Years-Ayn-Rand/dp/0395461073
I was an Ayn Rand fan for a long time. Now, she is one of many influences. She certainly understood the corrupting power of government.
This was a movie so his line was made that way to sound smooth and push a point.
In fact there is a better word(s). It is “self-interest”.
Everyone has it. It is good. Greed is not good. Self-interest is about making sure you can take care of yourself and others in your family and who,are important to you, at whatever level of comfort you can achieve.
But greed is where the mindset changes, where humbleness and humility go out the door, and you believe you are owed it, deserve it, deserve more, are jealous when others get it and you dont, you think you should have way more or all of it than others, only you are deserving of it all, and arent satisfied, you start believing your own PR and you’re the best and the best should always get everything and the rest get scraps. You cant be happy if someone else gets some too, especially if you didnt get it. Thats no longer self-interest.
This was just set up to be a smooth line/speech and also show the character really didnt understand the difference between self-interest and actual greed. And also confuse people to believe normal capitalism (gekko wasnt practicing normal capitalism) was bad because its “greedy”, it isnt. But it was the demon in the movie.
Like everyone, she was a mixed bag.
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