In the movie “Other People's Money” Mr. Garfield wants to purchase New England Wire and cable but faces a lot of backlash from the owner. This movie reminds me a lot about the “Francisco d'Anconia Money Speech” reading. In his speech he asked the question can money be evil and came to the conclusion money itself is not evil but the person in control of money can be evil. Mr. Garfeild is a great example of how money can have a bad influence on someone's life and how valuing money over everything else in your life can lead to a lonely, unfulfilled life.
Mr. Garfield's actions are eternal; he just doesn't create or sell a product. Instead he created a business that, he claims in the movie, profits off other people's money. This is in fact a true statement, being on wall street Mr. Garfield buys and sells stocks and businesses he makes money for stockholders and reinvest into other companies with more promising futures. Mr. Garfield's life revolves around money; this is all he cares about. He values money over the things he eats, the relationships he has, and anything else he has ever bought. In his fight against New England Wire and Cable he values the money he could make from liquidating that business over the lives of the people that lose their jobs because of his actions. Kate the New England Wire and Cable lawyer has multiple ways to save the company, none of which the owner and father are willing to go through, making Kates job much harder and leading to her having to deal with Mr. Garfield and his cringey pick up lines the rest of the movie. Throughout the movie Mr. Garfield and Kate are constantly flirting when doing business. Mr. Garfield knew the whole time he was going to win, so when he realized he truly loved Kate he asked her to marry him with the fear that Kate would hate him after he won. After he won and got the stockholders to vote for him he realized for the first time even though he had the money he still felt empty after this realization Kate came to him with an offer to sell the company back to its employees and allow them to produce airbags an industry on the rise. The movie ends and you can assume that Garfield made the deal and learned a lesson on the way.
I found it interesting how Garfield made his money without producing a product or service and really just letting other entrepreneurs do the work of building up a business for thirty years that he then just buys stock in and eventually is able to take it over. I like the idea of investing in other businesses that can make you money without having to start a brand new company and just letting other people do the work of starting the company and just buying shares of that company. Unfortunately, society wasn't a fan of Garfield's way of doing business he was seen as a crook and a moocher that didn't do work but reaped the rewards of other people's hard work and put hard-working people out of jobs. This kind of entrepreneurship puts people out of jobs and makes the super-rich richer. I respect this kind of business. I think some individuals are just more gifted than others when it comes to business giving them an advantage when it comes to making the money they deserve. This is a controversial entrepreneurial tactic in society. Some people don't agree that the rich should become richer and often don't support elites like Garfield; however, when it comes down to it everyone likes money and they will jump at the opportunity to make some. For example, Garfield convinces the shareholders to vote for him to make some money instead of saving the wire and cable business. People will be totally against the wrong thing to do until they can profit from the wrong thing to do. Money influences people to do all sorts of things. Some things are good, some bad but just like the “Francisco d'Anconia Money Speech '' the main idea is that money isn't evil, but the people who use it or want it can be.
