Greed

Greed: noun, intense and selfish desire for something, esp. wealth, power or food.

What a dirty word, or even worse, it’s a “deadly sin.” People seem to think greed is the source of all of our problems. It’s affecting everything and everyone, but I’ll bet anything that not one person this blog reaches is greedy. I’ll bet that if somehow, this blog finds its way to Jeffrey Immelt (CEO of General Electric), or Alex Rodriguez (third baseman for the New York Yankees), they wouldn’t consider themselves greedy.

No one thinks they’re greedy themselves; it’s always a word to describe someone else. We all think we’re worth what we earn (and more), we all believe that we deserve what we have (and more). But in all likelihood, somewhere out there, someone considers each of us “greedy.” It might be a claim against us as individuals, or a claim against our profession, race, ethnicity, nationality, class, religion, political affiliation or culture, but we’re all “greedy” to someone.

In Oliver Stone’s film “Wall Street,” Gordon Gekko said, “Greed is good.” I’ll say it too, greed is good, as long as it drives us to succeed, and inspires us to achieve. If greed causes force, theft or fraud (like it did in the film “Wall Street”), it stops being just a human trait and becomes a crime. Greed can be good, committing a crime against someone is a different matter; criminals should be punished, but people with the “intense and selfish desire” aren’t necessarily criminals. Sometimes they’re geniuses (cool, blue jean-wearing Steve Jobs), or just great talents (Alex Rodriguez).

By most accounts, Henry Ford was not a very nice man, but by the day’s standards, he paid his work force extremely well (he doubled his competitor’s wages) and treated them decently because it was in his best interest to have a happy, healthy workforce. In order to keep their best workers, other manufacturers were soon giving autoworkers pay raises so they wouldn’t go to Ford’s factory.

Before Henry Ford came around, only wealthy people could afford to buy automobiles; they were so expensive, owning a car was completely out of reach to the vast majority of Americans. Henry Ford’s greed inspired him to come up with a way to open up the market; he figured out how to sell more cars to more people. He revolutionized the industry and perfected the assembly line and mass production.

Henry Ford’s “greed,” or selfish desire for more wealth, drove him to find a way to lower the price of the automobile. In 1908, the Ford Automobile plant could turn out a Model T in ninety-three minutes. The speed and efficiency of the assembly line put automobiles within the reach of millions.

He didn’t figure out a way to lower the price of the automobile because he was nice (he wasn’t) and wanted to help people (he didn’t); he greedily did it to sell more cars because it was in his own best interest.

Ten years ago, computers were triple or quadruple the price, and they weren’t nearly as capable. Various computer manufacturers worked hard to improve their products and lower their prices, because it was a competitive marketplace and they each wanted to get more of our business. They cost a few hundred bucks now, they work a lot better and they’ll continue to improve, thanks to the greed of companies like Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Intel, Gateway, Sony and others. The Dell or Mac we’re reading this on is better than what they were running NASA with when they sent men to the Moon.

“Ruthless” is a word typically used to describe the Japanese businessperson. They’re not only out to beat the competition; they’re out to annihilate them. Their automobiles have raised the standard; they’re safer, more efficient and more reliable than anything in their price range. American and European manufacturers have to work hard just to keep up with Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Subaru, Nissan and Infiniti. The “greed” of the Japanese automobile industry has improved the quality of all automobiles; Chrysler, GM and Audi all had to improve to keep up. Guess what? Those greedy Koreans are coming on strong, so Toyota had better stay on their game. That’s good.

E-readers are something relatively new, and we don’t have to go back to 1908 and Henry Ford’s motorized assembly line to see the results of a competitive marketplace. More models are being offered by different manufacturers, and the prices are getting lower as each model has more bells and whistles. It’s a rapidly changing market as Kindle, Nook, iPad, Sony and others compete to offer better and/or cheaper products.

Why, do you suppose?  Is it because they’re nice and they’d like us to have cool stuff? Or is it because they’re greedy and want to sell us more stuff? They’re trying to keep their greedy shareholders happy, so they work hard to improve their products and lower the price so they’re more attractive than the competitor’s.

Capitalism doesn’t  “give” us anything, it trades and it sells, value for value; it provides a system where the individual can work hard to do better. The Steve Jobs and the Henry Fords of the world can be rewarded for their genius. If Steve Jobs hadn’t gone to Wall Street to raise capital, we probably would never have heard his name; the iPhone, iPad and iPod would not exist today.  If not for Wall Street and investors, the Occupy Wall Street crowd would be organizing using smoke signals instead of computers, cell phones, text messages and social networks.

“Greed” was essentially abolished in the old Soviet Union, Cuba and North Korea. Equality was the promise, not equal rights, but equal results and equal (lack of) wealth. From each according to their ability, to each according to their need. Ability and need were determined by the state. There was no room for selfishness in that system, just the promise of an equal share of misery.

What good ever came out of those places? The spontaneous order of reasonable self-interest and Capitalism makes things better for everyone. The rapid progress in the age of Capitalism is unprecedented in human history; it took us from the Wright Brothers to the Space Shuttle in less than a century.  It improved our standard of living; the “good old days” stunk. Jump in Michael J. Fox’s DeLorean, go back a hundred years or so and visit a doctor or a dentist.

Without a doubt, greed can lead to corruption, fraud, cronyism, deceit, theft and violence, but only by people predisposed to those faults. A criminal is a criminal, and they should all be punished regardless of the color of their collar.

I think it’s important to remember that greed might be a part of the inspiration for the person that finds a cure for diabetes, the next Jimi Hendrix, Bill Gates, Roberto Clemente or Henry Ford. Greed is often the motivation for productive achievement. Greed might be the motivation for people to invest their capital in the ideas of a new Steve Jobs, or in the talent of an aspiring artist. Greed is a part of human nature, it might not always be a virtue, but it isn’t necessarily a fault.