Greed is Good - Rand's take on the speech
Posted by eskslo 11 years, 11 months ago to Entertainment
I have seen the famous Gordon Gekko quote "greed is good", from Wall St 1, 1987, directed by Oliver Stone, several times now. I have to admit I am a huge fan of that movie (even though I do not agree with Stone's politics and ideas in general).
With that being said, I would love to hear what Gulchers/Producers have to say about the speech for themselves, as well as what they think Rand's ideas would be.
Please note I am specifically talking about the "speech" itself, and not Wall St as an overall movie and being a stock broker as a profession (although feel free to add these thoughts if you have strong opinions about it).
When I think of the speech, with lines like, "Greed is good...greed for life, knowledge, love, etc" and my favorite "Greed has lead the upward push of mankind, and mark my words, it is greed that will save this malfunctioning corporation called the United States". Please keep in kind I am paraphrasing and not sitting watching the film right now, but you get the point.
My thought is positive on this and in my own life I have a greed for life, success, money, family, etc. I am quite greedy about using my time with purpose, and greedy about not compromising whenever possible. I think Rand would like this sentiment (again the speech, not the concept of the movie of creating wealth without adding value).
I thought this would lead to some good debate in the Gulch and as you can see it is near and dear to me and my capitalist intentions. Thoughts?
With that being said, I would love to hear what Gulchers/Producers have to say about the speech for themselves, as well as what they think Rand's ideas would be.
Please note I am specifically talking about the "speech" itself, and not Wall St as an overall movie and being a stock broker as a profession (although feel free to add these thoughts if you have strong opinions about it).
When I think of the speech, with lines like, "Greed is good...greed for life, knowledge, love, etc" and my favorite "Greed has lead the upward push of mankind, and mark my words, it is greed that will save this malfunctioning corporation called the United States". Please keep in kind I am paraphrasing and not sitting watching the film right now, but you get the point.
My thought is positive on this and in my own life I have a greed for life, success, money, family, etc. I am quite greedy about using my time with purpose, and greedy about not compromising whenever possible. I think Rand would like this sentiment (again the speech, not the concept of the movie of creating wealth without adding value).
I thought this would lead to some good debate in the Gulch and as you can see it is near and dear to me and my capitalist intentions. Thoughts?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF_iorX_M...
The speech is good, but I do not accept defining capitalist self-motivated actions as "greed".
Greed is synonymous with covetousness.
If greed is good, then surely the government who takes 40% of my wealth is a saint!
Gordon Gekko calls to task his board of directors for having two dozen VPs doing nothing, but drawing $200K salaries.
The greed I see today is in the for of those taking what they did not earn and then complaining it is not enough.
I do think there is such a thing as capitalist greed at some point. But isn't because you've "earned enough" and anything past that point is greediness. When you cannot keep your other life priorities in place (marriage, kids, health, etc) because your number one priority is wealth generation, I think we may fairly label this as a vice called "greed".
I like the different inputs on greed. I would never presume to define greed for someone else, but certainly our federal gov and BO are trying to do so now to the top 1%. Money you earn via adding value, should have no cap in the sense of "enough". Defining enough for another person is an infringement of their right to produce. However, I do think you have a point that when you are getting into monetary goals taking over your life to where everything else suffers, you may want to do some personal evaluation in this area. Bottom line is that this is a personal prerogative that is defined internally.
Also, I love the comment about the gov being a send according to greed being good. Well said!
“Greed is for lack of a better word…” This is a problem.
Greed carries with it connotation of excessive desire for unearned riches.
Desire for all one has earned is not greed, it is your property.
If the word must be used then it is reasonable to ask, who is the greedier one who has worked to fulfill their desires and enjoy the fruit of their labor, or he who wishes to pilfer the fruits of another?
I prefer enlightened self-interest or even Selfishness as defined by Rand in “The Virtue of Selfishness”.
Regards,
O.A.
Defining what we are talking about is important. That is why I was trying to limit this to the speech, as the movie itself has a lot of different themes going on at the same time. I also agree with the idea of greed being tied to something "unearned" as opposed to worked for. This is kind of a slippery slope in the film, because while Gekko admits that he creates nothing, he would probably still argue that he "works" for his money. All in all it is very interesting social commentary, especially at the time to was made. Many thought Stone predicted the crash of 87 with the film.
Rational self interest is far preferred to greed, as you say. I am glad in the speech they stated that they were searching for a better term. Too bad they didnt just work Rand into it ;)