Jones Beene wrote:
greed, greed, greed... is Gordon Gekko really correct that it 'greed is good'?
If you are asking seriously, the answer is yes, of course greed is good. You can't have capitalism without it, and without capitalism wealth would hardly exist.
Greed is good when it is harnessed and controlled by ethics, laws, and conscience. Greed as manifested by responsible people is good for society. Greed as manifested by the Mafia is bad. The foolish greed on Wall Street that led to Enron, and the investment shenanigans and bankrupted AIG and other major institutions in 2008, and the TARP bailout, is bad. Sometimes it is difficult for an outsider to know whether greed is doing a good job or a bad job. Overall it is good.
Condemning greed because it sometimes gets out of hand, or it is sometimes unrestrained by morality, is like condemning sexuality because it sometimes leads to rape.
- Jed
