Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Jesus’ Recognition of Self Interest

The first time I read Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, as a young man of fifteen years of age, I can vividly recall thinking that the ideas Rand was presenting through the characters in this work, though decidedly secular in nature, ran parallel to everything I had been taught about Christian living to that point in my life.  Well, everything that is except for Rand’s stringent denouncement of altruism and that particular bedroom scene between Hank and Dagny.

Rand’s ideas regarding self interest resonated with me.  Self made, self reliant American individuals shone in Rand’s work, reinforcing what I had been taught by my Christian parents regarding work ethic and making my own way, and these ideas have motivated and inspired me to this day.  I think, whether you are an individual of faith or not, the self interest and self reliance of individuals should also resonate and inspire.  Unfortunately, this idea of self interest has been bastardized and slandered by all manner of individuals.  Those with faith, those without faith, politicians, philosophers, etc., many have attempted to recast the idea of self interest into a bludgeon with which to force others to their will, liberally doling out shame and charges of selfishness to bolster their erroneous claim that self interest is evil.  But is self interest evil, something selfish, and to be ashamed of?  I think not, which brings me round to the reason for this post.

The Acton Institute has a piece up, written by Jordan Ballor, titled What Griffiths Said: Self-Interest, Rightly Understood.  The piece comments on a St Paul Institute panel discussion which took place in October 2009.  The panel discussion subject was Regulation, Freedom and Human Welfare (pdf of 26 pgs).  Ballor’s piece focuses on the following comment by panelist Lord Brian Griffiths, a Goldman Sachs advisor and vice chairman, though the entire 26 pgs of the discussion are worth reading.

I think that the injunction of Jesus to love our neighbours as ourselves is a recognition of self-interest.

I think Griffiths’ statement is dead on, and the idea of self interest, though expressed by Griffiths in this context religiously, is simply the ubiquitous Golden Rule, and thus requires no faith in a Deity for it to be valid for any individual.  Self interest is the only moral way for individuals to achieve the ability to have compassion and generosity for others and thus create a good greater than themselves without the application of force.

If you can’t take care of yourself, self interest, how in the heck can you take care of others?  And as my father wrote to his eight children,

You can’t legislate morality.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/23 at 07:37 AM
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