"WARREN BUFFET ATTACKS GREED" says a Reuters report this morning.


Warren Buffet, of Omaha, in his annual letter to stockholders, comments on the corporate climate
in America, and challenges Bush's tax-cut policies, saying that they favor the rich.

"I am on my soapbox now only because the blatant wrongdoing that has occurred has
betrayed the trust of so many millions of shareholders,"
Buffett said, referring to the scandals that have roiled the U.S. mutual fund industry.
"Hundreds of industry insiders had to know what was going on, yet none publicly said a word."

For the complete story

reuters.com/

Good for Warren Buffett...someone needs to counter that Gordon Gecko quote that "greed is good"...it's one of the seven deadly sins for Pete's sake (by the way, who is Pete and why should we do something for his sake?)...

Greed is a religous concept. Religion has been abolished in this country. People have gone as far as to rip the ten commandments out of government buildings. Greed is simply an ideal. People only the concept to make themselves feel better by donating a small segment of their time to giving in some small way. Then they conclude they are not greedy and they go back to arbitration on the stock market.

People are sometimes greedy because they think there's not enough to go around for everybody. But there is. There's enough for everyone to be rich. So long as the earth is plentiful.

"Religion has been abolished in this country."

Does this mean no more hunting for "evildoers"?

part of the greed process is that shareholders have as much to blame as the executives. Corporate execs are under constant pressure to show profits. shareholders (usually big investors which are corporations themselves) want instant profit and not long term stability. This leads to shady dealing and accounting practices. execs job performance is based on this. Not to mention the nice bonus's and golden parachutes

"Managers that always promise to 'make the numbers' will at some point be tempted to make up the numbers."
Warren Buffett

I couldn't find the story at Reuters but did find it here:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/03/06/pf/buffett_letter/index.htm?cnn=yes

BTW, I have found that if a link is the last thing in your posting, it will work properly. No annoying BR tag.

People are gready because thats just the nature of people. We are all greedy to some extent. Some more than others. Some want money, some want power, but we all want more.

Although greed is a "sin" in religious terms...certainly greed is not JUST a religious concept...I personally find it a mental abberation....in the same sense as someone who washes their hands hundreds of times a day....it is the failure to be satiated (as in gluttony)....a failure of knowing when enough is actually enough...

Greed is not really having a lot of money...in the Christmas Carol, you would probably see Ebeneezer Scrooge as a greedy man...but he wasn't a really rich man...I think of greed as a mental abberation in which one has fixated on accumulation of more and more financial resources, to the exclusion of interpersonal relationships and helping others....

of course, just my opinion....

sorry for typo..meant "aberration"...NOT abberation..that's a typo...

Code if you use that analogy about washing hands then greed is out of the persons control. My son has sever Obsessive Compulsive disorder and hand washing is one of the dozens (if not more) things he has no control over. He would wash untill his hands bleed. He hated it but couldn't control the obsession. medication is the only thing that makes him able to be functional.

If this is the case with corporate CEO greed then perhaps we should give all execs medication when they become CEO's perhaps that'll help

BTW it's not a failure in knowing when enough is enough. it's an inability to control the obsession due to chemical imbalances in the brain.

You may be correct Code. Greed certainly does exist and is a mental state. But when has there been any comprehension of such a concept outside of religion? I have never heard of a government adopting a share and share a like policy. Usually the policies encourage the widening of a the poor-rich gap. My point is that while greed is a very real thing no one has ever given it a second thought unless they thought there would be some kind of consequence. Most people at least. Of course there are those that think about their actions and care about the impact they will have on the world. Certainly far and few in between. I think that is part of the reason we have always had religion. It is nessesary to keep the sheep herded or the wolves will get them. It is not nessesary to ensure all people have an understanding of things such as greed. Especially when they are told they only need to following the laws and the rest is just a matter of ethics. The last consideration of any good business person these days is ethics. Unless of course they think it could be bad PR.

Religion is anything but abolished in this contry. The governments right wing conservatives reek of religious undertones. I 100% agree with the 10 Commandments, a cross, a nativity scene or anything of that nature being anywhere near a government facility. In fact, it slightly offends me if there is... Well i'm off topic...
Corporations are greedy? Thats nothing I didn't know before, Mr. Buffet just confirms it. Corporations need some sort of system that keeps them in check and actually works.

the analogy of religion is only used in the context of total devotion to one thing (in this case money) I think we ought to leave the discussion of religion at that. I can respect your views, purfus, about religion. If you are not a religous person that's ok and your right. but to equate it with sheep being herded mindlessly is unfair and untrue. Yes there are some people who do (oftentimes that's the only view of religion the media shows us. The same media, by the way, that shows us the distorted filesharing issue.)

However the majority of faithful, no matter what religion they practice, do so without being controled. your view of religion is inacurate. for every case that someone can show how religion brainwashes a person, I can show ten where intellegent people make their own decisions to believe.

i meant to say i don't agree with those things being near a government facility... sorry

Comp brainwashing is on the extreme side of things. Many people do adopt a religion's moral values without discovering their own. They are certainly influenced at the least.

Religion may be talked about a lot in this country but very few, especially among those with profitable oppertunities at hand, actually practice it when it counts.


Anyway debating over religion is just as unproductive as it ever was. It is becoming obvious that greed and gluttony among the corporations in this country is having an adverse affect on society. The behavior of the different industries is proof enough to that. Need I get into the details, but think of an instance of greed of the following industries; drugs, stocks, entertainment, and tobacco. Thats a very few. Now, for any industry, think of an example of generusity. When was the last time any corporation did anything to contribute to society, without the prospect of profits? I can't think of an example, especially not among the industries I listed. I certainly do not think that the increase of globalization is bring corporations a sense of responsability to the societies they operate in.

"I think of greed as a mental abberation in which one has fixated on accumulation of more and more financial resources, to the exclusion of interpersonal relationships and helping others.."

interesting point codewarrior, sounds like a sickness, a compulsion

in the end i think people just take too much, plain and simple

the owner of Sprint makes 200 million plus dollars a year, who needs that much money

i think the money accumulated in bank accounts (the money reserved for corporate buyouts and takeovers) is the money that makes the nation poor, these corporate bigwigs have dammed up the economy, the rich sometimes want everything guaranteed, with enough money that can happen, but you can only stretch things so far before the economy goes bust

Simple solution to greedy corporations: Each corporation is allowed one lawsuit a year. If they waste it on something stupid and get attacked by a hacker or a corporate raider... Too Bad.

I agree purfus. spwee is also correct about the sickness and compulsion. I refer to my post about my son. I didn't mean to debate and I'm sorry if that's how it sounded. we can disagree about the religous aspects but our common goal here is the same. But keep in mind that the majority of believers moral views ISN'T influenced by religion. religion brings out what's already in the individuals heart. it helps many define what they already believe but don't know how to express it. that's it's purpose. That's how they discover their own values. Others discover it in different ways. It's something that's very difficult to see from the outside by an observer.

Money is the diety of corporate greed and I do think it's an obsession, boarding on a sickness. My son certinly doesn't want his OCD but can't help it. it's not a choice for them

Gothic-Angel. Perfect, I love it

I agree. Gothic-Angel, that's the fairest idea I've heard yet.

How about each one served this year is taken from following years? That'd make RIAA shut up.

But 4 of the 5 riaa companies are foreigned owned. One of them, BMG is controlled by a German family.

I don't think greed has anything to do with it. The basic nature of corporations is that they must make as much money as they can, without regard for individuals, the environment, or anything else except the law, and even that they tip-toe around looking for any edge they can get. If they don't operate like this then they will perish, swallowed by bigger fish that were successful in gaining every profit advantage they could.

A CEO may be the most generous individual on the planet and still run a corporation that does horribly unjust things. Corporations are not people; they have no concience or feelings. Their purpose is to make money and survive. It's just their nature.

This state of affairs is one of the fundamental flaws of capitalism.

Amendment 1 to the one-lawsuit law:

Any corporation that attempts more than 1 lawsuit in a year's time will automatically and without due process have their CEO kneecapped.

The second offense involves weasels in heat and may not be appropriate for younger readers.