Steve Jobs Greed

Is greed good? A loaded question. The socially acceptable response would be no, however the answer is not as black and white. Despite the negative connotations that the word itself carries with it, the fact of the matter is that a lot of financial, political, and social gains have been the product of greed when we think of greed in the sense of an “intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food”. This is illustrated in the technological monopoly that Steve Jobs created when he founded it in 1976; in addition to this, Obama took advantage of the productive aspects of greed by campaigning in all the states, and not just the ones that would determine the results of the election; finally, Boss Tweed back in the 1800s used greed to control the votes by pleasing everyone, not just the people who supported him.

Greed was an essential component in the ultimate success of Steve Jobs and his company. If not for the incessant greed of Steve Jobs and his vision to monopolize the computer business, he definitely wouldn’t have gotten as far as he did. It was his greed that drove him to build, fortify, and expand his business until it reached a point where it became the richest company in the world. It also helped further innovation and improve the general quality of life. Steve Jobs

had an intense selfish desire to profit from his business, which is parallel with the definition of greed.

Another example of greed is the way in which presidential candidates campaign during their elections.

In this country, in order to win the election, only 9 states are needed to win the election as the amount of electoral college votes each of these states possesses constitutes more than half of all electoral college votes, a simple majority. However, in every election in this country’s history all the candidates have campaigned in more states than just the 9 that could guarantee the outcome of the election. This illuminates the greed within every candidate as they want all the state’s approval although that is virtually impossible due to political party based

bias.

A third example of how greed has been beneficial can be seen within the career of William M. Tweed during the gilded age where he would manipulate the public into vote for the political candidate he promoted. He used to please the populace of New York City by attending funerals, buying kids ice cream, taking men out for drinks and many other methods that all had similar outcomes, the approval, and trust of the general populace. He did this so that when the time came to vote on any major decision pertaining to the New York City residents, he could control the vote of a large group of people. Without that approval, he would have never made it as far as he did in his career.

Throughout the years, greed has benefitted the economy, political campaigns, and social crusades. Moreover, while greed is viewed as an undesirable trait and even considered a deadly sin in the christian religion, it has many positive aspects that fail to gain recognition or even acknowledgement due to the insidiously distasteful connotation the word itself carries with it.