“Greed Is Good” (Part 2)

In an earlier post I discussed the advantages of a capitalistic economy. Please see that post for background. Now I want to explore what the greedy Mr. Gekko meant by his statement “Greed is good.”

Is Greed Good?

One possible disadvantage of a capitalistic economy is that it is, to a certain extent, based on greed. That is why Gordon Gekko made his famous statement “Greed is good.” But using the term “greed” is mostly hyperbole. For the majority of people participating in the economy, “greed” is too strong a word and not appropriate. What investors, entrepreneurs, industrial researchers and inventors, innovative manufacturers, employees, and others participating in the economy are looking for is success. “Success” usually refers to a financial pay-out, such as:

-The stock you invested in goes up in value;
-The company you started grows, becomes more valuable, and its stock grows in value;
-The innovation you implemented resulted in increased profit for your company;
-Your invention is accepted in the marketplace and you receive a financial reward.

If people didn’t want their wealth to grow, there would be no banks, no stock market, no bonds, no innovation, and no research. So “greed is good” from the point of view that everybody wants their net worth to increase, their 401(k) to grow in value so they can have a decent retirement, and to get financial rewards consistent with good performance.

In a future post I’ll be concluding this series on capitalism and greed.

Israeli Relief Efforts

Sadly the liberal media views Israel negatively and rarely reports anything positive about that country. However, one bit of favorable news managed to make it through the media news filter, and it had to do with Haiti relief.

While the U.N. (typically incompetent), the U.S. (maybe still hasn’t learned the lessons of Katrina), and other countries were struggling to get aid workers, water, food, doctors, medical supplies and other much-needed help to Port-au-Prince and outlying areas, Israel flew in and set up several field hospitals that were operational within 48 hours of the earthquake. These hospitals were adequately staffed, and had state-of-the-art equipment. It’s unfortunate that this wasn’t more widely reported, because it does show the Israelis to be “good guys” willing to travel roughly 4,000 miles or so to help in the relief effort. How many other countries in the oil-rich Middle East helped to such an extent?

Another country that rose to the occasion was the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Within hours of the earthquake, the DR was mobilizing to help. Victims from Haiti were being treated in DR hospitals, and truckloads of supplies were on their way across the border. Why didn’t the media pick up on this? We thank God for the Israelis and the Dominicans for jobs well done under the most difficult of circumstances.

We thank God also for the Christian and secular agencies that are helping and will most likely be in Haiti for many years to come: the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, World Vision, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), and many, many others. May God provide them with the resources and the fortitude to do what needs to be done.

Massachusetts Election

The various commentators and columnists will be analyzing this upset election for the so-called “Kennedy seat” for weeks, if not months. Let me just share a few comments of my own for your consideration:

The Massachusetts voters have a habit of occasionally voting Republican even though Democrats have a three to one advantage over Republicans in that state. The voters think about their vote and don’t just automatically pull the Democrat lever. Good for them.

I wouldn’t say this victory was pro-Republican as much as it was showing dissatisfaction with what is happening in Congress by all parties. The Republicans had majorities in Congress for 12 years, some of them with a Republican president. During that time, the Republicans didn’t distinguish themselves by addressing the tough issues or accomplishing much of anything. Now that the Democrats will no longer have the super-majority in the Senate, I hope Republicans will not just be obstructionists and continue to play political games, but will show leadership and work on the behalf of the country, not the party.

I believe this election showed dissatisfaction with the continuing politics as usual in Washington (by both parties), especially when it comes to health care reform. The powerful pharmaceutical, trial lawyer, and insurance lobbies have been able to water down the plan, and Republican input has been disregarded. This Congress must learn to look out for the people’s interests and not the special interests.

In addition, don’t think there is much confidence in Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and the other leaders. I don’t think people trust them and because they are liberals, fear that they will put together a health care “reform” package that takes away current quality benefits, substituting inferior care, rationing, and higher taxes to pay for it. Another reason there is so little confidence is that the congressional leadership hasn’t included in the package the one thing that will actually save billions of dollars: tort reform. Why? The powerful trial lawyers lobby.

The voters are waking up and finally making our senators and representative accountable. We’ve had enough of this game-playing in Washington and the various state houses. We want our elected officials to work in OUR best interests. If they don’t, they’re out of a job. They have a moral obligation to faithfully represent us, and we have the moral responsibility to hold them accountable.

Good work, Massachusetts!

Haiti Earthquake Comments

I recently wrote some opinions about why bad things happen, responding to the tragedy in Haiti and hoping to possibly put the tragedy into some sort of perspective. That post resulted in two comments that I would like to respond to. I don’t want to go into a lot of detail but I do want to reply to them. I thank those who commented because I appreciate getting feedback.

One of the commentators said religion is mostly mythology and if there is a god [sic] then it is impossible to know it [sic]. I agree and I disagree. Let me briefly explain.

I believe that most religions, while having some value, often good moral and ethical codes, proclaiming some truths, are mostly mythology. Much of that mythology consists of attempts to explain the world. However, I do believe that we can know God in a number of different ways. We can partially know God through his creation, the order of the universe, and the intelligent design of complex organisms. We also know God more completely through the Bible, which I believe is an accurate representation of God and shows humanity’s need for God. Jesus is the fullest revelation of God, because God came in the flesh to dwell among us.

Any “mythology” in the Bible is there to convey a truth (similar to the parables Jesus used). Since I believe the Bible is divinely inspired, any “sacred myths” have value to reveal God to us, to reveal ourselves to us, or for some other purpose. Obviously if you don’t believe either in God or in the truth of the Bible, then what I’m saying will be rejected. My advice to those who reject what I’m saying is to read the Bible and see for yourself rather than rely on all the old complaints, such as “the Bible is full of contradictions.”

The other comment stated that God was punishing Haiti for its sin, similar, I assume, to Sodom and Gomorrah. I understand where this commentator is coming from, but I hesitate to say God did this terrible thing to punish Haiti for its false worship, violence, and other sins. While God does have a history of similar punishments in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), I’m not sure God operates that way now. Even though God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, he does change his methods. Look at all the tornadoes, floods and other natural disasters that happen in the most “religious” parts of the United States. Is God punishing those God fearing people? If so, for what?

I’d be very careful about blaming God for this disaster. But thanks for your input.

“Greed Is Good” (Part 1)

Remember those famous words by Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street? Well, he’s back. From what I read recently in the Poughkeepsie Journal, they are making a sequel to that movie. It will still feature Michael Douglas as the greedy, conniving, Wall Street stereotype, but brought up to date with the most recent financial crisis. Should be a good movie.

After reading about the sequel, it got me thinking about capitalism in general and the ethics of business in particular. Since I spent 30 years in the financial end of the business world – although not on Wall Street – so I have got some opinions based on first hand observations. Given the financial meltdown of 2008, the bailouts, and the bonuses paid to executives of these failed banks and financial institutions, I thought it might be interesting to discuss whether “Greed is Good” or not.

Capitalism

Without going into a lengthy discussion of my rationale, I believe capitalism is the best economic system. Communism failed. Before it could begin to prosper, China had to move from a rigid communist economy to a blend of a semi-capitalistic economy coupled with a repressive communist government. Since I don’t think those two can co-exist too long, the government will most likely become less repressive.

Socialism has its disadvantages, mainly in that it discourages success, limits innovation, taxes too heavily, and has too much central planning. The ideal for me is a capitalist system with enough controls to protect against egregious abuse, but not so many that innovation and risk-taking are discouraged. A robust capitalistic economy allows for plenty of competition and does not allow too many mergers and acquisitions. The more competition a market has, the better it is for the consumer. With one or a handful of dominant companies in a particular market, competition is not as vigorous and the consumer suffers from high prices, lack of innovation, and often poor quality of goods and services.

We’ll look at whether “Greed is good” in a future post.

Haiti Earthquake – Why?

When terrible disasters occur such as the earthquake in Haiti, the question comes up: “Why does God allow such things to happen?” People will then view God is “bad” or “evil” in some way because he allows such tragedies to occur. What answer does the believer in God have for such a question, especially in light of the magnitude of the destruction and human loss in Haiti?

One answer is that God isn’t involved in his creation. He got things started but now just lets events play out without any divine input. Deists believe in the “Divine Watchmaker” concept of God. It explains why bad things happen, but isn’t consistent with the Bible.

A related answer is that God purposely limits himself and is generally uninvolved in the world. God will intervene on occasion, and these divine suspensions of natural laws are called miracles. This might be a little closer to a partial explanation.

Let me give you a summary of what I understand, which are only partial answers but makes some progress in trying to grasp why these things happen.

a. First of all, we are on earth, subject to the laws of nature. This is not heaven, but the earth, with all of its flaws, sin, and other problems. Heaven will be much better.

b. Second, many natural disasters are made much worse by human corruption, selfishness, or incompetence. Think of Hurricane Katrina with inferior levees. Think of Haiti with poor construction. We shouldn’t blame God when disaster results from humankind’s shortcomings.

c. Third, some disasters are completely man-made. Think of China’s Great Leap Forward which resulted in a famine that killed millions. Think of Stalin’s disastrous farm and other policies that killed millions. Think of all the wars, buried land mines, repressive regimes, etc.

d. Fourth, we tend to blame God for all the bad things that happen, but don’t give him credit for the good things. While natural disasters do occur (interestingly referred to as “Acts of God” in legal documents, although they are getting away from that and are now using the term “force majeure”), devastating ones are relatively rare. Like plane crashes, they are terrible when they happen and get a lot of publicity.

e. Lastly, God did create a perfect world and we messed it up, as illustrated by the Adam and Eve story. Even if you don’t take that story literally, it does tell us that humanity did something to rebel against God, thus plunging the world into it current state.

While this is only a brief overview of my incomplete understanding of this ongoing question, I hope it has been helpful to you. The main thing we should remember is that God can use tragedy for good. So be open to God’s leading so that your own trials and hardships can be used for human good and God’s glory.

Haiti Earthquake

When I read about the devastating earthquake in Haiti, it makes me glad that I live in the United States. Why? Don’t we have earthquakes here? Of course we do, but the reasons I appreciate living in the U.S. are:

a. We are a compassionate people, immediately getting aid to Haiti and other stricken areas when tragedy occurs. Interestingly we don’t discriminate in our aid. We’ve sent aid to Muslim countries, and even to countries that haven’t been exactly friendly to us. We are able to separate policies of a government from the needs of people who have suffered loss. I’m proud to be a citizen of such a generous country.

b. When I see the severe damage to buildings in Haiti and in China when they had their terrible earthquake, I realize why building codes are so important. Shoddy construction kills people. That’s not to say we don’t suffer damage here in the U.S. due to hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes, but I suspect such damage is less because of building codes. Of course poor construction and maintenance of levees in New Orleans resulted in the destruction of a large part of a major U.S. city, but that goes to show that we aren’t immune to corrupt government, poor planning, and shoddy construction.

Because our society has its roots in what’s called the Judeo-Christian ethic (i.e., the Bible), we often do things that are consistent with that ethic. We help those in need and we send aid abroad. I might also mention that when disaster strikes, Christian relief organizations are there, either as first responders or later to give ongoing aid.

As our society degenerates and moves further away from its Judeo-Christian roots, I hope we don’t lose that compassion that makes us a beacon of light to a dark world. What other country is as generous and helpful in the world? Certainly not the oil rich nations. Certainly not China and India, which are prospering tremendously. Certainly not Japan. God bless the good old U.S. of A.