Greed - Good or Bad?

Greed is good

Greed can be good for society in order to improve quality of life. The definition of greed is a strong desire for more. If there was no greed there would be no desire to do anything. People strive to work hard and to create new products. The most important incentive for people to work is for money. People want to have more money than what their own parents earned in their lifetime. The salary that people earn allows them to provide for their family. But people want to be able to provide a comfortable life. For example, people would like to buy a nice house in a great neighborhood. They would like to have a new car instead of an old car. And not have to worry about breaking down and stressing about how they would get to work. People want a good education so that they are able to apply for better jobs. They want to have a good career and not just any job. People start businesses instead of working for several corporations. So they do not have to stress about possibility of layoffs. These people rather work hard and long hours and reap their own rewards. Their incentives for owning their business are earning the money and accomplishments are solely theirs. Some people rather invest in companies than working for themselves. These are several examples of needs that are good types greed. People are more productive when they work and strive to do well in life therefore they will contribute to society. They become more educated, able to build wealth and live comfortable life. Greed can be good in some instances. It can increase the value of stocks in corporations. It can stimulate the economy and effect interest rates. It can clarify, work and create competition in society. The greed for knowledge, life, money has increased competition and expansion of capitalism in American way of life.

Greed is bad

Greed is usually considered bad. Greed has to do with excess and the source of self-indulgence is bad. There is motivation for innovation and to have a comfortable life. Some people collect enough personal wealth in order to retire early. Thus they are no longer an active productive member of society and who use more resources than they give. It is all right people to retire from the work force but not from society. Instead of playing golf maybe teach their grandchildren how to fish or even cook. If you are physically and mentally able to contribute to society you should. Greed is when people continue to collect wealth even after they reach enough money to live the rest of their lives. Greed sometimes drives people to do unethical, immoral, and illegal things in the pursuit of more money. For example of bad greed, think of the Enron scandal. This was one of the largest bankruptcy reorganization and biggest audit failure in 1997. This corporation had failed deals, projects and hide billions of debt