(Picture provided by Donal Casey, sophmore at Ringling College of Art Design)
As a fan of Michael Douglas, I was thrilled to hear last week that the legendary Gordon Gekko is set to make a comeback in the sequel to the all time great Wall Street movie.
Long overdue, the sequel will no doubt strike a chord given the current environment.
But in light of the recent announcement, I feel that it is timely to examine the all important question – is greed really good?
Personally, I don’t think so. Whilst healthy forms of ambition should be encouraged, I do not believe that greed can be considered to be a virtue
What is ‘greed?’
In his famous declaration in the original film about the apparent benefits of greed, Gekko talks about:
“Greed, in all of it’s forms. Greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge.”
What I feel that he is referring to is an apparent notion of greed as representing some form of healthy ambition, a desire to implement improvement and change and to exert a positive influence on the world.
But is this really what greed is about? Not from my understanding.
Consider some common definitions of the word:
• “a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed” (Merriam Webster Online Dictionary); and
• “excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than what one needs or deserves” (WordNet).
These do not talk about healthy levels of ambition. Instead, they talk about wanting more than you need.
That’s what I feel represents the essence of greed – attaching a disproportionate amount of significance to the acquisition of money and material goods, often at the expense of more important things, such as honor to god, love of others, service, integrity and generosity.
The problem with greed
Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with the acquisition of wealth or material possessions per se, problems arise when we attach a disproportionate level of importance toward this area.
When this happens, problems can arise in two key areas:
• Stealing focus away from more important things.
Materials possessions are wonderful to have, but I do not believe that they should be our primary area of focus in life.
Instead, our focus should revolve around more important aspects, such as love, family, service, contribution, healthy enjoyment of leisure, and (for those who believe in god) honoring our creator.
In no way, in my view, should we ever allow any form of desire for the attainment of material possessions to distract our focus from any of these crucial areas.
• Compromising integrity.
Compulsion to achieve material goals at any cost – regardless of any impact that our actions may have upon others or of any ways in which we may have to compromise our personal values or integrity – can be very dangerous, and can lead us to engage in behavior which we would not otherwise consider to be acceptable.
Indeed, it would not surprise me to find that greed plays a significant part of the underlying cause of many forms of criminal activity, such as theft, scams or corporate fraud.
In praise of ambition
In contrast, there is nothing wrong with a healthy sense ambition, which I feel should be considered to be a virtue.
Surely, there is nothing wrong, for example, with the desire to start new businesses or non-for-profit organizations, or for the growth and expansion of existing ones. The same can be said for desires for new innovations, new discoveries, new development and new approaches toward overcoming environmental or social challenges.
Desires for growth, expansion, the breaking down of barriers and the discovery of new possibilities do not represent greed. Instead, they represent a very healthy part of human nature – the desire to build, to create, to explore and to challenge limitations.
The co-founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page provide an excellent example of this. Yes, both men are now wealthy almost beyond comprehension, but it is widely accepted that a desire for the attainment of material wealth is not their primary motivation. Instead, they are driven by a passion for technology and what can be achieved when we harness its power.
The level of material success which they have achieved appears to represent more of a by-product of their activity rather than the principal driving force behind their actions.
Conclusion
My thoughts, in a nutshell:
(a) greed is not good; but
(b) ambition is a virtue; and
(c) best of all, Gekko is back!
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