"It's time for a return to bridled greed."

[TygrBright]

That's a paraphrase of a comment from a friend of mine upon the latest announcement from Netflix that 'Sorry, no, really, we're really sorry, we won't change our name to Qwikster after all, and we realize we totally hosed up and we're hoping you'll forget all about that little incident and keep right on using our core services so we won't gain enough momentum in our downward spiral to make it past the s-bend. Really.'

I forwarded a copy of the statement from Netflix to my friend John, for a laugh (we've been getting a number of chuckles out of watching Netflix's antics lately) and his response was, "Well, I guess that means they're returning to bridled greed."

And it occurs to me, that a "return to bridled greed" is the best paraphrase of how to deal with the whole 'Capitalism: Good or evil?' debate.

Look, sorry, it's just not possible to ban greed. It's hard wired into human nature. I'm greedy. You are. We all are. Dangle the right pretties in front of us and 95% of us will rationalized some way to make the grab.

Five percent saints (and how will we know who they REALLY are?) aren't enough to build a socioeconomic system on.

Greed is not "good" or "evil," it's a human characteristic that can be applied constructively or destructively. Critical elements of human progress and human cultural evolution would never have happened without greed.

But it's far, far easier for greed to be applied DEstructively. Thus, the need to "bridle" greed.

For thirty years, UNbridled greed has been rampaging on the loose in our economy and funneling our collective wealth into the pockets of our Beloved Oligarchs and their brown-nosed helots. And all of our problems have been ascribed (ironically) to the tattered symbolic pseudo-bridle that remains.

Bridle greed.

We will never be able to stamp it out entirely.

Why not make it work for us, rather than against us? (Not a new idea, by the way. Page "Adam Smith".)

Enable people to profit modestly from their greed while bridling the greed to keep it from harming our air, water, land, food chain, etc. Encourage people to use greed creatively by inventing new ways to solve problems and selling them, while bridling it to ensure that they contribute to the infrastructure that supports their success.

Don't call it "Capitalism," if that appalls you. Find a new name to describe a system that harnesses the power of greed while keeping it firmly bridled in the interests of our communities and our future generations.

Unbridled greed has nearly destroyed us.

An attempt to eliminate greed altogether might accomplish the same thing by a different route.

Let's have some properly bridled greed, for a change.

Yes, it'll kick and pull and whine and complain bitterly for awhile, especially after its long orgy of unbridlement. But in the long run, it will settle down and build a stronger economy and a stronger society for all of us.

speculatively,
Bright

[Silent3]

1. I'm definitely stealing that phrase. n/t

[HereSince1628]

2. Absolutely!

:kick:

[jmowreader]

3. The Epitome of Evil put it best...

The end of Gordon Gekko's speech to Teldar Paper's stockholders in the movie Wall Street:

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good.

Greed is right.

Greed works.

Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.

And greed -- you mark my words -- will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.

[Beartracks]

4. "Sustainability"

Economic sustainability. Capitalism, aka greed, must be regulated in the same manner as a nuclear reaction: properly managed and "bridled," a nuclear reaction can sustain the generation of enormous amounts of power for long, long periods of time; if, however, the reaction is allowed to proceed unchecked, it will quickly flame out in a completely uncontrolled and dangerous meltdown.

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[OwnedByFerrets]

5. Fantastic Post