RSS feedIt was Ayn Rand in one of her essays from the 1966 book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, that really ended my rather naive idealist preference for socialism, when she explained that the idea of capitalism, is the optional materialist advance of the individual, but not at the expense of others. This not at the expense of others has been a semi-guiding principle for me ever since I can remember. Yet it seems to have limited adaption by most of the world’s population.
Why are people such selfish arseholes?
I found myself in a situation recently where a person had the opportunity to gain from an interaction with me, without any loss on my part, but at the expense of others who were not aware of the opportunity. This person had to improvise a story that I would believe, but fortunately I was able to see through it.
Although sanity and equality prevailed in this case, what makes people want to fuck over other people for their own personal gain? I don’t care whether it is as simple as jumping a queue at the cinema, or who gets served first in a store, most people seem to take the opportunity if they are able to do so. I don’t. If I see someone waiting to be served for example, and I see someone pushing in front, even if I have no position to gain and the store keeper didn’t realise the customer order, I can’t stand by and let it happen without saying anything.
Selfishness is a character trait, and dare I say it, a character flaw. It helps build the fucked up greed driven world we live in, and will contribute to our ultimate downfall.
So, if you’re thinking of pushing in front, or adapting your story to suit yourself, please think again, or you may just in invoke one of my particular character flaws, revenge.