Greed as an Analytical Tool

Gordon Gekko, made his (in)famous “Greed is Good” speech in the movie, Wall Street:

“The point is, ladies and gentleman, 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.”

That speech arouses disgust in many. And the recent financial crisis showed Hollywood did get it right when it came to Wall Street’s attitude.

But take a look at that speech again. The parts about greed clarifying and cutting through are right. I don’t mean right as in morally correct. Rather, I mean right as in factually accurate. In fact, for those parts of the speech, “greed” isn’t the right word. If only Gekko hadn’t had the “for lack of a better word” problem…

So what was the word Gekko was looking for? I’m guessing it would have meant greed minus the illegal, unethical and immoral aspects. Viewed that way, greed does clarify and cut through. When people want something and that something is at stake, they analyze a lot more deeply. They pause. Consider alternate scenarios. Evaluate what might go wrong. Weigh the pros and cons.

Greed is a very powerful analytical tool; a knife that cuts through idle talk and cursory analysis. Most of us are so programmed to look at greed as a bad thing that we miss out its (few) good points. Wake up, guys. Greed is like that elephant of the blind men story fame. It has multiple sides to it. And they are not all bad…

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