Economic Behaviour As If Others Too Had Interests

Introduction

ix Introduction The twenty-first century has witnessed the dilemma of seven billion people having to share only one Planet Earth. Each of the seven billion people needs to survive and so the competition for resources has become stiffer than it used to be in those days when world population was still a few millions. Moreover, the world is not only crowded by human beings but also by visible and invisible non-human entities. Thus, twenty-first century humans and nonhumans need sober and moderate ways of meeting their interests. In this book, we wish to discuss two levels of competition in which human beings participate. The first level is among human beings themselves while the second level is between human beings on one hand and nonhuman entities on the other hand. At the first level, human beings compete among themselves basically to meet their interests in order to survive. Usually some individuals or groups of individuals dominate the rest. Those who belong to the domineering group go about their activities as if the rest of humanity did not have interests. This is what we shall be referring to as human egoism. However, human egoism manifests itself in different degrees: solipsism, selfishness, and self-interest. There is no such thing as pure altruism; nobody ever acts only in the interests of other people. People usually act in their own interests. The most ‘altruistic’ people you can get are those who act in their own interests and at the same time in the interests of others. Such a mixture of egoism and altruism is what we shall be referring to as altruistic egoism. Instances of altruistic egoism include deferred gratification, symbiotic reciprocation, scrupulous benefactors, composite beneficiaries, emotively egoistic people, advertisers, consanguineous altruism, deontological altruism, and philanthropic altruism. The sphere of economics is usually the most fertile ground for selfishness. People who have strong economic muscles pursue their goals as if they are the only ones who have interests or as if other human beings do not matter at all. Resources are said to be scarce while human needs are assumed to be unlimited. Private property is locked up for private use only. Economic systems are nothing but institutions of selfishness. Selfishness becomes more prevalent as a people move from primitive economic systems such as subsistence economics, communitarian economics, feudalism, and x mercantilism to modern economic systems such as liberal capitalism, socialism, mixed economics and geocentric economics. Indeed, the major reason why economic systems collapse is selfishness. Despite all the efforts and the advancement in science and technology, the world has not yet achieved true economic development mainly because development models and processes are driven by human selfishness. Income disparities continue to widen as a few individuals continue to get richer at the expense of the poor who are usually the majority, the gap between rich and poor countries is not getting narrower, and corruption has become an economic virtue. Multinational Corporations disguise themselves into agents of development but they are largely motivated by selfish interests. In today’s world, they are the most official and efficient channel through which the rich and strong continue to exploit the poor and weak. Given their technological and monetary power, Multinational corporations find it easy to operate as if it is only their interests which matter. They are able to manipulate the decision makers of poor countries in order to buy raw materials at throw-away prices and to sell their finished products at exorbitant prices. Needless to say, the economic challenges which we are experiencing today are a warning against human selfishness. Consequently, the solution to today’s economic challenges does not lie in coming up with more abstract economic theories but in taming the evil of human selfishness. Moderating our selfishness is especially imperative for a crowded planet like ours. The seven billion people have no better choice than to cooperate with one another. In other words, if I need to survive in this crowded world I must not act against other people’s interests. The twenty-first century requires an economic system in which every human being matters and his interests are taken seriously by everyone. It is no longer sustainable to take care of my interests at the expense of or without putting into consideration other people’s interests. The second level of competition exists between human beings and nonhuman entities. As a species, human beings compete with all non-human entities to meet their interests. Most a time, human interests...