Greed is just a motivator. The word can is important here. It can lead to innovation and, sometimes, make the world better. I think that is the exception more than the rule, though. Most of the time, unchecked greed leads to awful behavior that enshittifies and hurts everything it touches. Ford is one example of the nuance. While Ford did not invent the assembly line, it helped refine and scale the moving assembly line into what we now think of as modern mass manufacturing. That let Ford build cars faster and cheaper, which had a huge effect on manufacturing in general.

The higher wages are another complicated part of it. Ford’s famous $5 day came with an eight-hour shift, not longer hours, but it was not just because Ford suddenly cared about workers. The assembly line was miserable, turnover was extremely high, and paying people more was a way to keep enough workers around to make the whole system function. It was good for the workers in some ways, but it was still motivated by making more money. And Ford’s “Sociological Department” was invasive as hell, since the company was looking into workers’ personal lives and deciding who qualified for the full pay.

But no, I am not remotely pro-billionaire. If anything, I am pretty firmly the opposite. I just do not think every situation is completely black and white. Self-interest can occasionally result in something broadly useful, even when the person doing it is not especially good and the system around it is still harmful. That does not make greed good. It just means the outcome and the motive are not always the same thing.