Redefining Self-Interest

I believe that the number one key to success in life is that you need to do what you're suppose to do in order to do what you want to do. The more you maintain your morale, the further you will go in life.

I'm not a perfect person and I have not always done the things that I were suppose to do. This is why this valuable life lesson is so near and dear to my heart. Having the strength of your convictions and maintaining your moral center is the epitome of "doing you" and "staying true to who you are". Going against your morale is the epitome of hypocrisy and anyone who knows anything about philosophy knows that hypocrites are irrational.

Because the value system in today's world walks the thin line between saints and sinners, having the strength of your convictions and doing what is right can be damn near impossible. The line between what's right and what's wrong has become so convoluted that it's hard for people to distinguish up from down.

People partake in self-interest without realizing that self-interest actually has the reverse effect. Self-interest does not benefit you. People who I deem as "selfish" seem to have the hardest time finding happiness. In contrast, the most humble of us seem to have things all figured out. If you want to invest in yourself, it is imperative to learn to invest in others. Self-interest does not benefit the community as a whole and if the community doesn't benefit, you cannot benefit because you are a part of the community (no man is an island).

For instance, if you are poor and hungry and you decide to rob somebody you are trying to protect your self-interest. Robbing someone when you are poor and hungry is a justifiable act when you are trying to survive, but it's an act of self-interest that may back fire. For one, you could end up in jail. Two, people act in retaliation (i.e. I know people who are in the drug game and when they steal from mother fuckers they may end up dead on the street the next day).

Another example would be people who cheat on their spouses. Cheating is an act of self-interest that in the long-run can cause you to loose the people who most near and dear to you.

These are extreme examples but most people partake in self-interest acts in their day to day life... no matter how small they may be.

If you look at it from a community stand point, breeding self-interest is why there is so much crime, violence, and in general, a low quality of life. No one is willing to put themselves in someone else's shoes. Instead of walking side-by-side, people run and charge at each other full speed ahead. It's a sad thing to see.

The worst part of it all is that PEOPLE KNOW WHEN THEY ARE WRONG. People have adopted the "I know it's wrong but I don't care" mentality or the "I know it's wrong but it's necessary". Few have adopted the "I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do" mentality.

I recently was offered $500.00 to take a 3 hour final for a fellow colleague since I know my shit. As tempting as the offer was especially since I'm strapped for cash, I turned it down. I told a friend of mine and she sarcastically responded "your morale is astounding".

Since when did doing the right thing become taboo? I'm beginning to believe that there is no such thing as Hell because it is evident to me that the devil roams the earth. We live in a world where being bad is good and being good is bad. Why?

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that people are heavily discriminating. The people who have the greatest strength of conviction tend to be the most discriminating of us. People have a need to relate to people who are similiar to themselves and distance themselves from those who are different. I think this is why people are so isolated because in the long-run you will never find anyone who is just like you.

Being a business major, I'm trained to evaluate opportunity cost. In a business setting, you always faced with circumstances where you have to sacrifice one objective in order to achieve another objective. When determining an effective business strategy, optimally, it is best to compromise and find the middle ground between each objective. This is a way to mitigate the risk associated with deciding to go with one extreme versus the other. It's called compromise.

The reason why I brought this up is because the world seems to be divided into extremes. For instance, you have a country such as America that values individualism where many parts of the world value collectivisim. Americans are so extreme about promoting people as individuls that we have now breeded a country of people who do not watch out for each other. We do not understanad the value of the community. In contrast, in cultures that are more collective, they are so extreme about promoting people as part of a unit that they do not progress because no one is allowed to think for themselves. They have breeded people who do not know how to fight for a better quality of life.

Even though each value system has it's pros and cons, I think the best value system is to find a trade-off between the two.

(will continue later)