Is greed - good?

Dear friends,

It is interesting how quickly ordinary people are placing some of the "blame" for the mortgage industry crisis on those who they accuse of being "irresponsble" (esp. Black) - home-buyers...

After all, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson acknowledges that many of the hundreds of billions of dollars that are needed from taxpayers are for loans to companies that were responsible for covering the investments of ordinary people (i.e., stockholders). Comsidering the logic that is used to berate the aforementioned home-buyers, does that mean that those who trusted companies and invested in them (bought shares), in order to make a quick buck, are "irresponsible" as well, since all of us must bail out those companies that made so many bad decisions?

Additionally, the issue of "greed" appears, during this whole debacle. I remember reading, some years ago, George Will, "the" chief spokesman and pundit for the right wing in this country, ask, "What's wrong with greed?" He wrote that question, at the beginning of an article that appeared in, I believe (it's been a long time, since I read it) the National Review. Shortly afterwards, Will, who at the time was a middle-aged, married man, was arrested (in Washington DC) for having had an illicit sexual affair with a minor (16 years-old girl). Therefore, in light of his, apparently, insatiable sexual appetite, my answer to George Will's above mentioned inquiry, which I e-mailed to him back in those days, about avarice is: That's what's wrong with greed, George.

In any case, below is a link to a delightfully thought-provoking piece, by Elm Smith of the Philadelphia Daily News that helps us think more deeply about the players in this latest government scandal. Enjoy.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080919_Elmer_Smith__Why_won_t_the_government_that_backs_business_back_us_.html