"Greed is Good" - is it?

[R1Geezer]

From Wall street -
"....The point is, ladies and gentleman, is that Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms - greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge - has marked the upward surge of mankind. And Greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much. [standing ovation from the crowd] "

ok it's fictional but does Gekko have a point?

[sumo19]

Such a good film that is.

Gekko seems to think that the upward surger of man kind is through greed. This is not necessarily the case. It may be considered evolution. We have gained more knowledge and invented new things that has allowed us to be where we are today.

The debate here is how we have got that new knowledge. Is it really greed? Could it be ambition? Or could it just be a kind of evolution where we have modernised ourselves?

Assuming it is greed, then it is clear that not all forms of greed are good.

A greed for knowlede may well be beneficial for man kind, but not if it knowledge which concerns imoral activities.

A greed for money may be good for charity; but not in the case of Bernie Madoff, where he stole billions of dollars of people's money.

In conclusion it is hard to determine what has lead mankind to the point we are at now, is it greed? Or is it simply a matter of fact, not necessarily requiring greedy characteristics in people?

There are any different types of greed as Gekko says. Greed can be good or bad; it depends on the reason for the greed, and the greed's effects on other people.

[Barquentine]

He's using the wrong word. He means 'desire', 'acquisitiveness', 'ambition'. Greed means wanting more than you need or is good for you. Once you've got so much money you could buy whatever you thought you wanted - those things immediately become boring and unsatisfying. Some things you can never have enough of - like knowledge. Doing things for others is most satisfying - after you've got everything you want for yourself (and your family) though. Maybe travel and discovery would never become unsatisfying? He means being driven to try and get things - but getting more than you really need is pointless - except you can start giving some of it away.