Greed Is Bad

"The point is, ladies and gentlemen, 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 and 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 U.S.A."

If you've never heard that little speech before, you must not have seen Oliver Stone's 1987 film Wall Street starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen; I'll link it below this paragraph for your enjoyment. This little speech perfectly encapsulates the problem with capitalism, perfectly describes its biggest misconception, which is that self interest, or greed, can be transformed into a common good. The old story goes like this: every person strives to make a profit for themselves, and that can only be achieved by offering something, a good or service, that's wanted or needed by many people, hence greed is good. The baker bakes bread to earn a living, to make a profit, and by doing so he or she provides the community with what they need.

Believing that greed can be harnessed to create something good is, in my opinion, just as wacky as believing that murder can be harnessed to create life, or sorrow to create joy, or hate to create love; the very idea is preposterous. Instead, a system based on the harnessing of pure self interest will always lead to a society in which greed is rewarded, a society in which the greedy will do well for themselves, and for themselves alone. In that society, the greedy will have bought everything and everyone, including the politicians who ought to serve we, the people, but instead serve the interests of the self interested. And they do so for their own self interest, of course. Many believers in capitalism will say: "That's not capitalism! That's a plutocracy, an oligarchy, socialism for the rich!" To which I say: "That's what capitalism, the ideology of elevating self interest as the highest good, will always lead to."

To stress this point, linked below is linked a short report on the latest figures of the growth of American Billionaires' wealth during the pandemic: their combined "worth" has grown 70 percent, or 2.1 trillion dollar. At the same time millions have lost their jobs, have filed for bankruptcy because of medical debts and lost their homes. This is late stage capitalism showing its true face, and it's not pretty...

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