UKC

Barclays have proved that their culture is one of "Greed is Good." This does not bode well for society. Banks appear to be operating on an unlevel playing field. News reporting yesterday suggested wholesale culture change was neccessary. Personally this sounded like horses**t to me. Comments please.

In reply to Blizzard:

This is an interesting documentary Blizzard youtube.com/watch?v=JXt1cayx0hs&

In reply to Blizzard: Here's another good documentary on greed and selfishness culture youtube.com/watch?v=gZt2HhFXB3M& , I also liked the Zeitgeist film on you tube about the banking system youtube.com/watch?v=1gKX9TWRyfs& , and not a lizard or a tinfoil beanie hat in sight!

In reply to Blizzard:

Wall street: listen carefully to what Gordon Gecko says
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Mr4mjeZ2ko&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Network:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkRDMil0bw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Every now and then there is some real insight presented by Hollywood. These two snippets are golden.

In reply to Blizzard:

And from John Carpenter's They Live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xSAb04qfhY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This film is a must watch for societal observation through metaphor and it contains possibly the best cheesy line in any film ever:
"I've come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubble gum!"

In reply to Blizzard:

Oh and "greed is good". Haha don't you see that that attitude is what the system that we live in endorses. Look around you, in every institution that has a hierarchy stated or otherwise, school, work, banking, police etc, those who do best (meaning those who climb the highest. I personally think that those who do are morally defective) are those who tread on others. Listen to the bitching in the office, the taunting in the playground, the appropriation of money from others in order to achieve profit, the charging of suspects in order to achieve quotas etc. We do live in an appalling system and those who run it are driven by greed just as you observe. Welcome to the world of the real!

In reply to EZ:

I would humbly suggest that the "problem" is not "the system" but people. The system is just a reflection of people with all their strengths and weaknesses and we seem to like to work and live in groups that tend to develop structures and institutions that are usually hierarchical.

I am not clear what you are getting at that most people don't instinctively know and either reluctantly accept, or exploit, or try and change from the inside usually to create an alternative herachy.

In reply to Postmanpat:

Sorry Pat. I honestly couldn't follow the syntax of your last paragraph. If you could just reword it or paraphrase yourself I'll happily engage.

In reply to EZ:

What are you saying that you don't think most people know?

The only difference between you and others seems to that most people accept,albeit reluctantly, human nature and the structures it produces and adjust their lives accordingly as suits them best.

In reply to Postmanpat:

Ahh ok, I see.

I think most people traverse this society in either ignorance or wilful ignorance of the detriment that it causes to humanity as a species. I try not to be judgemental of anyone in this respect but I think that as a species we are enlightened enough to be able to make decisions that help others as well as ourselves and t the moment I don't see that our systems of life endorse that approach. I find that tragic but greed is a powerful master.

In reply to Blizzard:

Usually think Osborne is a waste of space, but he was good on this issue

http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9732000/9732...

In reply to Postmanpat:


True. We live in an organised world and if you want to get on in that world you have to accept some ways. However, this is different to the private inner culture of a bank. Most people are not driven by an insatiable appetite for money yet some of these banking dens are and it is only when they accidentally surface as Barclays has done that things blow up.

To be fair though, I don't believe that there is anything new in this. It has no doubt being going on for years and years and in the full knowledge of those in government. It is only now in times of austerity that the super wealthy being exposed as money grabbing bar stewards makes good copy.

In reply to EZ:

I disagree. Whilst making no pretence that individual greed and status etc are not motivations it seems to me that most institutions are geared to towards benefiting a group, either small or large. We all make an implicit deal with the institutions or entities we are part of to sublimate part of our own independence because we understand that aligning our own interests with the group is good for both the group and us.

In reply to Postmanpat:

Besides irony, I like to see other perspectives for things that I already feel to be a certain way. Thanks.

In reply to EZ:

Where does irony come into it?

In reply to Postmanpat:

Just that it's something to notice in life that I enjoy when I do, like alternative perspectives. There was no irony here.