Greed is Good...Sometimes

I recently came across the story of Bodog gambling site founder Calvin Ayre as well as three other Canadians involved being indicted on charges of both illegal gambling as well as money laundering. I found this article to be of particular interest as it brings many interesting aspects of this course forward. A man of Calvin Ayre's stature and promise being once considered one of People Magazine's hottest bachelors has proven that all individuals have the possibility of a fall from grace.

What motivates individuals to make decisions that could totally affect the rest of their lives? As 'Gordon Gekko' of the 1987 film stated simply put "Greed is Good." This seems to be the driving factor of the majority of individuals conducting their business nowadays. We look around us and we see all of the cases such as Tyco, WorldCom and Enron. We see the Jeffery Skilling's, Dennis Kozlowski's and Kenneth Lay's of the world and all we are drawn to is the negative impacts corporations have on our world. It is impossible for us to not see these abuses of corporate power and to not paint all business with the same brush. It is in our human nature to simply perceive what is given to us by what information is put forward we come to conclusions.

As hard as it may be to look past the indecencies of a few individuals we must come to understand that not all that is being done is awful their are companies genuinely trying to make a difference. The bottom line in business is to always make a profit but this does not have to be a bad thing. Taking Gordon Gekko's philosophy of Greed is Good can be spun in order to be a good thing. Somewhat like a Robin Hood taking from the rich and giving to the poor philosophy. As long as we do good with the wealth that we accumulate we are operating with the best interests of the majority of people as our first priority.

Increasing profits is important but doing what companies such as Bodog do is morally wrong. Breaking the law in order to pad individuals pockets is wrong. We must do what is best for all of us not the richest people. This is why the distribution of wealth has gone so far out of whack because the mentality of those at the top is that they need to be cut throat in order to stay where they are and their moral compasses become non-existent. We must work to get all individuals to have their moral compasses pointing North if we want to succeed in business and life moving forward.

Luke Riel

P.S. Here's the Article

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/28/billionaire-bodog-founder-calvin-ayre-three-other-canadians-indicted-on-illegal-gambling-charges/