Wall Street Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Wall Street Film - Essay Example Greed to earn more and achieve the fame and fortune forces Bud Fox and Garden Gekko to actually start to prefer self over the family and indulge into actions which may be against the law. Garden Gekko openly said that greed is good, thus, giving the impression that earning money regardless of whether it comes from ethical ways is always a good thing to do in life. The movie shows that the characters deliberately broke the law and engaged into activities which were detrimental to the interests of others. The ethical issues highlighted also indicates as to how Bud Fox was lured into doing business with Garden Gekko and over the period of time lost his innocence and concerns for the rule of law and abiding the principles laid down by SEC. As things move on, Bud Fox seems to involve his friends also in the process of making money. This has shown that instinctively, being professionals, we can bet on the money of those who supported us in difficult times; as such, our relationships may be come driven more by the money rather than the feelings of love and compassion which as individuals fee for each other in our relationships. The ethical failings of Bud and Gekko may be in their tendency to be lured away by earning more money and in that process of earning more money lose sight of what is right and what is wrong. ... Best consequences always suggest that actions should be such that they are helpful and maximize utility for most number of people. Accordingly, any action which is considered to bring more happiness or bring greatest good is considered as an ethical and moral action regardless of the actual consequences. Utilitarianism however, counts those acts as unethical which are done in a manner that can provide maximum utility to individuals and create harm for others. The notion of greatest good for the greatest number of people, therefore, prevails in utilitarianism, as well as how individual and collective actions should be driven ethically. (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell) The situation described in the movie clearly indicates that the actions of both characters are actually offering greatest happiness to them only. This limits the positive consequences of their actions to themselves only, whereas the negative consequences of their actions are spilled over to the general public. The way fi nancial institutions are managed and the kind of speculative activities are taking place indicate that financial managers may be taking bets rather than calculated risks. Taking bets without actually involving rational, prudent and conservative investment approach results into greater losses for the investors and the society as a whole. Using utilitarian approach, therefore, outlines that the characters actually engaged into activities which were speculative in nature and were detrimental to not only the financial services industry as a whole but for the society in general also. The current financial meltdown is often considered as the result of the imprudent actions