Excessive Greed

Greed - n. An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth.

Much of America has a certain disdain for outrageous compensation packages that are reported in the media daily. I read the same newspapers as the rest of the general population, and can't even imagine what type of job would command a salary and bonus of $125 million. Perhaps that type of salary would be justifiable for the researcher or doctor that cured cancer, but certainly not the CEO of an Investment Bank, charged with allocating resources. Since we're playing the blame game, who else displayed greed?

When investors demanded and received returns that were uncharacteristic as a result of the financial engineering that was taking place on Wall Street, was that also not greed? Was it not greed, when that irresponsible family was willing to sign an ARM to enact their version of the "American Dream," and own a house that they could not reasonably afford? The point is, at every level there was greed, and once the train gathers enough steam it becomes uncontrollable - until the wheels fall off. I think it is safe to say, the wheels are falling off, if they haven't already.

There is a reason greed is considered one of the seven deadly sins, but it wasn't just pirates on Wall Street who were greedy as the media would love to have you believe.