water finds its own level..

"Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind." - FROM THE MOVIE "WALL STREET" - 1987

when one looks at all the machinations that go on in corporate boardroom, the endless backstabbing in politics, sibling rivalry with no or the absence of morals etc etc - the world looks a unhappy place with no hope. In fact in my opinion if today there is no gandhi - it is so because he is dead the first time he rebelled against an unjust law!! the gandhi of the 19th century was possible because his opponent (the british) had some vestiges of morality and a misplaced sense of being seen doing the right thing!!

fast forward to the recent past. in india we had a person like APJ abdul kalam become the president. looking at how the present president a person with a chequered past was most uncerimoniously elected - it is all the more a wonder how mr kalam got elected. it is so because just like water find its own level - GREED(mistrust - put any negative human quality here) FINDS ITS OWN LEVEL TOO!! now when the last president was to be elected the congress wanted mr x and the bjp mr y - now both were unacceptable to the other as they had a colourfull past. so the fear and mistrust of the two parties got the only gita quoting muslim to become the president and the rest they say is history. he singlehandedly returned HOPE to the masses. the countless number of young children touched by this simple man with a message of hope and of a future of the world that is better than what we have today is the bedrock on which future political parties can claim they made a difference - but then we all know the one man who made it possible!!

on an aside one need not have to repeat the side effects of "greed" in the world of finance - just one look at the economic mess of the past couple of years should give pause to all those who think that "wall street" got it right!!

complete transcript of the iconic scene from the movie---WALL STREET - 1987

"Gekko: Well, I appreciate the opportunity you're giving me, Mr. Cromwell, as the single largest shareholder in Teldar Paper, to speak.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're not here to indulge in fantasy, but in political and economic reality. America, America has become a second-rate power. Its trade deficit and its fiscal deficit are at nightmare proportions. Now, in the days of the free market, when our country was a top industrial power, there was accountability to the stockholder. The Carnegies, the Mellons, the men that built this great industrial empire, made sure of it because it was their money at stake. Today, management has no stake in the company!

All together, these men sitting up here [Teldar management] own less than 3 percent of the company. And where does Mr. Cromwell put his million-dollar salary? Not in Teldar stock; he owns less than 1 percent.

You own the company. That's right -- you, the stockholder.

And you are all being royally screwed over by these, these bureaucrats, with their steak lunches, their hunting and fishing trips, their corporate jets and golden parachutes.

Cromwell: This is an outrage! You're out of line, Gekko!

Gekko: Teldar Paper, Mr. Cromwell, Teldar Paper has 33 different vice presidents, each earning over 200 thousand dollars a year. Now, I have spent the last two months analyzing what all these guys do, and I still can't figure it out. One thing I do know is that our paper company lost 110 million dollars last year, and I'll bet that half of that was spent in all the paperwork going back and forth between all these vice presidents.

The new law of evolution in corporate America seems to be survival of the unfittest. Well, in my book you either do it right or you get eliminated.

In the last seven deals that I've been involved with, there were 2.5 million stockholders who have made a pretax profit of 12 billion dollars. Thank you.

I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them!

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."