[quote=surveyor]”The American founders believed, and capitalism rests on the belief, that people are driven by “self-interest” and the desire to better our condition. Self-interest is not necessarily bad; in fact, Smith believed, and capitalism presupposes, that the general welfare depends on allowing an individual to pursue his self-interest “as long as he does not violate the laws of justice.” When a person acts in his own interest, “he frequently promotes [the interest] of society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. ”7
Here it is important to distinguish between self-interest and selfishness. Self-interest—unlike selfishness—will often lead one to commit acts of altruism; rightly understood, it knows that no man is an island, that we are part of a larger community, and that what is good for others is good for us. To put it another way: Pursuing our own good can advance the common good. Even more, advancing the common good can advance our own good.[/quote]
FTFY
I think it’s pretty clear that a large percentage of very wealthy people in the US have derived their wealth by screwing over other people, and robbing publicly-funded institutions like education and social security via government-backed bailouts, taxes, and loopholes that favor the rich over the middle class.
The US will soon be dead-last in education, social support, vacation time, equal rights. We’re all pretending if we still think we’re a “first world” country at this point. Hell, even with technologies we invented like the internet, other countries are blowing by us by using – guess what – public funds to run huge sections of infrastructure.
