Greed is Good

So I don’t think I agree with that statement one hundred percent, but I do not believe it to be absolutely false either. For example, a lot of people believe that money is the root of all evil; I however, would contend that the love of money is the root of most evil. In the movie Wall Street during his second speech the character Geco spoke about how the top one percent of America’s wealthy own over fifty percent of its wealth. The value of the dollar will go up and go down but one thing will always remain at a relatively high value and that’s real property. “Real property, sometimes referred to as real estate, is land and all articles permanently attached to it, such as buildings and trees.” (Essentials of Business Law, Luizzo Pg. 199) People like to look for their own version of the American dream, and strive for ways to achieve that dream. We think we live in a system designed to give people the rights and freedoms that are unprecedented in a historical context, but if you look at American capitalism and its foundations I believe that it was set up to create the illusion of freedom. All the checks and balances and staggered rotation of senate and house elections were put into place to prevent wide spreading popular sweeping change. With our system of government it is almost impossible for a popular idea to be passed into law unless it is backed and will benefit that top one percent of the countries wealthy. Those are the people that want you to fight for your American dream on the outside while quietly and covertly influencing policies that insure you probably never will. “The concept of private property is one of the foundations of our economic and social system. The laws of our country recognize the right of individuals to own property.” (Essentials of Business Law, Luizzo Pg. 199) To put it simply the founding fathers of this country were all land holders and wealthy people, they didn’t break away from English rule for any other fundamental reason other than greed. They felt over taxed and unfairly represented in parliament. I find it a little ironic that today most Americans find themselves in a very similar situation. I’m not saying that greed is good or even that greed is bad, but that the choices an individual makes based on greed are what defines whether greed is good or bad.