"I got greedy… Greed is not good. Ambition is good, passion is good. Passion prospers." These words, spoken by Jordan Belfort prove that greed does indeed create monsters. Those of you who don't know who Jordan Belfort is, need to go and watch the movie "Wolf of Wall Street." Belfort is a well known American author, motivational speaker and a former stockbroker. While working at Stratton Oakmont, a brokerage house, Belfort lived a lavished life full of parties and intensive use of drugs such as methaqualone. However, this didn't last long and Belfort pleaded guilty to fraud and related crimes in connection with stock market operation. In 1995, Stratton was shutdown permanently and Belfort was indicted for money laundering. For these actions, he spent 22 months in jail and ran a boiler room as part of a penny stock scam. He lost investors over $200 million and was forced to pay back $110 million.
Was is worth it? In the time yes, Belfort wanted to be the most successful and prosperous man in the stock market. He didn't care about breaking laws as long as it meant he would get to the top. As I was researching more about Belfort, I came across his website and on the front of the page was a bullet point that read, "anyone can master the art of persuasion." This instantly made me think of Prospero in Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest." In this play, you can see Prospero use his magic to trick and manipulate people into doing what he says. I see a similarity of this in Jordan Belfort because he has a certain art of persuasion he uses to get to the top and get his way.
Another man I thought of while talking about Wall Street would be Robert Rubin. He played for both teams as he was Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton. He helped pass a deal with Citibank and Travelers Insurance group which was illegal just to get more money. He also worked for Citibank and made $120 million. So why would he need to sneak around and pass deals that are illegal? Because greed creates monsters. Robert Rubin had so much money that he probably didn't even know what to use it on. The ongoing urge to be more rich ultimately destroys a person and turns them into a monster. Robert Rubin had to slowly rebuild his public image but still blamed it on other people and made sure to warn the public about government spending.
Was is worth it? In the time yes, Belfort wanted to be the most successful and prosperous man in the stock market. He didn't care about breaking laws as long as it meant he would get to the top. As I was researching more about Belfort, I came across his website and on the front of the page was a bullet point that read, "anyone can master the art of persuasion." This instantly made me think of Prospero in Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest." In this play, you can see Prospero use his magic to trick and manipulate people into doing what he says. I see a similarity of this in Jordan Belfort because he has a certain art of persuasion he uses to get to the top and get his way.
Another man I thought of while talking about Wall Street would be Robert Rubin. He played for both teams as he was Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton. He helped pass a deal with Citibank and Travelers Insurance group which was illegal just to get more money. He also worked for Citibank and made $120 million. So why would he need to sneak around and pass deals that are illegal? Because greed creates monsters. Robert Rubin had so much money that he probably didn't even know what to use it on. The ongoing urge to be more rich ultimately destroys a person and turns them into a monster. Robert Rubin had to slowly rebuild his public image but still blamed it on other people and made sure to warn the public about government spending.
Many monsters on these blog posts seem to share a common trait. The power of persuasion. Like you mentioned Belfort was able to to gain a lot of power and money through. The story of a individual rising to power and then becoming a monster often seemed to involve the manipulation of other people. The feeling of being able to do what ever you want and get out any situation is a strong one. Do you think this is more of a factor than just money and greed alone? Thoughts?
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