Our selfishness

Human beings are inherently selfish creatures. We are certainly capable of tremendous acts of altruism and self-sacrifice, and for many people, these dispositions are developed until they are quite literally second nature.

But as a general rule, it is more useful to think of us as a largely a selfish group. And there is no cure for this, regardless of how vehemently some shout for changes to this inconvenient aspect of our DNA. It is worth noting, of course, that those shouting for such changes in others appear wholly unaware of their own shortcomings.

The question in light of our selfishness, therefore, is what kind of society and economic system is most effective at navigating through and around this constraint? History is continually refining its message to us and there is always more to learn. But I’d contend that the last 245 years the American experiment are worth strongly considering.

The United States has plenty of greedy, selfish people, proportionate to its share of the world population. And our system is imperfect. But it has also proven capable of unprecedented technological innovation. We are among the most generous to the international community and to our allies. We are more free than most would care to acknowledge. Our hospitals and medical advancements are second to none. And this has all happened while raising more individuals and families out of poverty than any nation with a competing ideology ever has, at least in any reasonably comparable period of time.

Our selfishness is an obstacle to any number of good things. But it is an obstacle that we can optimize if only we don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg.