Greed Is (Not) Good

In contrary to capitalism critics who state that it is inherently immoral, practically, what he meant with his stance explained above was that one must not deceive or fraud others in doing business. He didn't propose anyone to do corruption. But rather, as a philosopher, he promotes people to do business with "a proper degree of self-command" which the people involved must act based on their desire to do the right things. He believes that each one of us has the freedom to acquire this kind of wisdom through our experience. 

Where Should We Stand? 

Whatever one's stance is regarding capitalism, greed, and the pursuit of self-interest, we must acknowledge that each argument have some truths behind it. It is important for us to realize what for some of us be fundamentally evil, like greed, may be examined from another viewpoint. Furthermore, it is eye-opening to realize how material things were made out of greed and the pursuit of self-interest. Gordon Gekko may be right, or he may be wrong. Greed may be good, greed may not be good. Greed is (not) good. 

Oleh

Kevin Bagas Ksatria | Staff Divisi Kajian Kanopi FEB UI 2019 | Ilmu Ekonomi 2018

References

Wight, Jonathan B. (2005). Adam Smith and Greed. UR Scholarship Repository. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f10a/80a86b5586f67fe34d998658a2700ea5b739.pdf. 

Skousen, Mark. (2000) Is Greed Good?. Foundation for Economic Education. Retrieved from https://fee.org/articles/is-greed-good/

Rollert, John Paul. (2014). Greed is Good: A 300 Years of Dangerous Idea. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/04/greed-is-good-a-300-year-history-of-a-dangerous-idea/360265/. 

Doti, James L. (1982). Capitalism and Greed. Foundation for Economic Education. Retrieved from https://fee.org/articles/capitalism-and-greed/.