The world is truly a better place and it is getting better; thank God for selfish people. If it weren’t for selfish people, we would have been a gigantic communist state.
Over time, selfishness has acquired a negative connotation; and images of a money-lender extracting his pound of flesh while a widow weeps is often associated with an extreme form of selfishness. But, somehow, I’m unconvinced.
If it weren’t for selfishness, we wouldn’t have an incentive to do better. Lots of children are advised against venturing into Art; there have been too many financial failures in “that sort” of profession. But then, same is the case in charity organizations and “Non-Governmental Organizations”. And, you are assured a complete lack of financial success / transparency in “that sort” of profession.
Reminds me of a very interesting discussion I had with a young lady once:
“What do you like to do in your free time?”
"I spend time in my charity organization”
I raised an eyebrow: “That sounds interesting; what is it you do there?”
“Helping kids.”
“Why do they need helping?”
“Because their parents don’t have time to take care of them”
“So what happens when they don’t get taken care of?”
“They fall ill…and then their parents are uneducated…so they don’t know what has happened. So they take their sick children to the hospital and spend all their savings on expensive medicine. We now ensure that the kids are taken to the physiotherapy ward where spending on medicine can be avoided altogether”
“Then what happens?”
“The kids are sent back home”
“But that was what sent them to the hospital in the first place”
"So what do you suggest?”
“Nothing, at this stage. But it seems futile to solve this problem with physiotherapy. Why don’t their parents take care of them?”
Clearly, the young lady was totally exasperated by my line of questioning. Rather than expressing an interest in her devotion to sick children, I was more curious in their ungodly parents; what sort of childhood did I have, anways?
“Their parents work all day long”
“Does it help?”
“Not really, because they are illiterate and hence don’t have jobs that pay much”
“So, can’t sick children eventually get cured by adult literacy programs?”
“Huh? We’ve tried that; doesn’t work”
“But if the parents earned a lot, then kids could be healthier, right?”
“Right, except the parents aren’t particularly educated or skilful.”
“So why not teach them something that could help them make more money. Like work in the hospital that charges those steep fees?”
“It would take time, and the results aren’t assured.”
“So why not take a one-time grant to guarantee the education of these sick kids?”
“Because of a technical hitch in our bureaucracy: if the number of kids are less than fifteen, then you don’t get much of a grant.”
“Then, it appears as if rearing kids is futile, if there is no future for them, right?”
"Maybe”
“If we can’t cure the problem, why not teach population control techniques then?”
“As I said, these adults are quite illiterate and poor”
“So we keep on surviving on grants?”
"Yes, what option do we have?”
"Sorry to sound stupid: what is it that your organization is trying to achieve?”
"Our aim is to make a difference to society”
Honest to God, I haven’t made a single line up in all this.
Honest to God, I am not trying to belittle the organization's efforts; I sincerely wish more power to people like them.
I do have an issue with what I consider to be mis-placed sentiments behind these efforts. Now, I’m quite sure that a lot can be achieved and is being achieved in the sphere of social organizations, but I have this disconnect: how can one be totally selfless and feel like a martyr when one is occasionally submerged in either a hopeless cause or a hopeless effort?
Why not use profitable means to lift the poorer sections? I would think that they are poor is because they have never earned a profit.
And, to touch the most controversial subject, what exactly is wrong with child labour? I'm aware that child slavery and exploitation, or any form of slavery and exploitation, is a crime against humanity....what is wrong with child labour? In Finland, children are expected to work on the farms. Isn't that child labour?
Beethoven is a fine example of selfishness, so is Da Vinci and so is every outstanding sportsman. Most people argue that selfishness promotes individualism, which is detrimental to the “betterment of society”. But then, in an effort to “better” society, we see trade barriers imposed rampantly by all countries on every item and labour that could spell doom for local industries.
In an effort to “better” society, we see socialist political parties take on mighty “capitalist” parties and end up succumbing to trade unions.
It’s not as if capitalist parties haven’t succumbed to trade unions, but the option to say “NO” is inbuilt in the ideology. In fact, it’s supposed to take precedence over most other options.
