Gordon Gekko and the lesson of greed
Gordon Gekko, the iconic hero of the Reagan era told us “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good” You can see the context of this quote below if you are unfamiliar with the movie or the character.
The problem with the quote, as is with most things that get quoted and passed along, that it gets simplified and boiled down to the basest idea possible. In this case, the phrase itself was modified and pulled out of context. What we all are left with is “Greed is good”
Gordon is using the wrong word. He said “Greed, for lack of a better word”. He chose the wrong word. a better selection would have been “passion”.
In context Gordon is telling us that a life of “greed” will save both the company he is addressing and the country as a whole. He uses the word greed as a point of self-interest, that each person needs to be a “greedy” as possible because it is an “evolutionary imperative” and that survival of the fittest will benefit everyone. But the idea of greed implies one thing that is left out of Gordon’s speech. Cooperation. Gordon speaks to a group of investors at a stockholder meeting. Greed for the group is good. If the entire group is “greedy” then the company will be forced to do whatever it takes to make the company profitable.
There is also a side effect to the greed that Gordon is proposing. Taken to extreme it will lead to one and only one “victor”. Greed will get the company to be profitable, but if the individuals become greedy then they will begin to turn on their fellow investors and that will lead to what is called the “cancer stage of capitalism”.
So while i do not have the ability to change the past, or the movie. i would just like to drop my stone into the pond and hope the ripples change a few minds. “Greed” is not good. Passion is. Work on making the world the best you can because you want it to be better. Think of the greater good.
And if you want me to wax poetic about the economy and the market in general let me know. we will have lunch. 