The So-Called “Virtue” of Selfishness

            This weekend Steve Somebody called me complaining that Dagwood's Pub had Main Street closed  “again” and “gets it closed for his own personal gain” whenever he wants. From the tone of his voice, he felt it was unfair, special treatment, but I think it's rampant in this society. Biz as usual.

            A couple years back, shortly before two antique/chatchka shops in town closed—Cascade had become a mini-destination for female shoppers--one of their owners told me she decided to close because of this very thing, closing Main St.

            Though I am sure it wasn't the only factor, I can't help but see this in the larger context--the owner of Dagwood's is simply doing what is best for his biz. Steve's pique or an antique store owner's ire/inconvenience never cross his mind. If they do, he doesn’t feel obligated to do anything. City council concurs.

            In 1964 Ayn Rand published a book called The Virtue of Selfishness. Look up and down American society and you will see how completely the idea of what is good for the individual/his biz permeates this culture: Farming is done in a way that causes erosion, befouls surface water and creates chemical dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico but it makes $. The Mississippi has been ravaged to make it suitable for shipping, and now further widening of the locks and dams is being called for!

            I lived in Berlin, Germany for almost five years and there they have a Gruneamt, a kind of environment department that has numbered all the trees in the city. You must get a permit from the Gruneamt if you want to cut or even trim one. Trees there are seen as indispensable to air quality. Americans would plotz!!!

           

            Casting a Critical Eye about American Society will reveal a myriad of  examples, and in successive days, I will describe some of them—political action groups, immigration, the Koch Brothers, the Catholic Church—and how the  so-called “Virtue” of Selfishness affects us. Has made the whole society less well off in more ways than anybody realizes—not just you, Steve.