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Enlightened Self-Interest

Guest post by: Dave Ferguson

Article Overview: The Occupy Movement and Penn State events call into question people's motives and their decision-making. We should make decisions based on self-interest, but what are those interests really?

Enlightened Self-Interest

The Occupy Movement and the recent events at Penn State have something in common. They resonate with the vast majority of people in the world who sense that something is wrong and want something done about it.

The occupiers claim to represent the 99 percent of the population who have to live with what the other 1 percent control. I'm a 99-er and so is virtually everyone I know. In the Reagan era it was called the silent majority, silent because the majority never seemed to speak its mind. That seems to be changing.

To refer to ourselves as the 99-ers is somewhat inaccurate. According to recent research*, in the United States in 2007 the top 1 percent held (controlled) 42.7 percent of the financial wealth. That's a very big number, but the next 4 percent controlled another 29 percent. So, just 5 percent of the population controls over two-thirds of the wealth. The average net worth of families above the 90th percentile was $3,306,000. The statistics show that 80 percent of the population, the vast majority, controls only 7 percent of the financial wealth. Do you think that wealth might influence corporate decision-making and politics?

What history has shown is that wealth begets wealth and, over time, tends to be more and more concentrated at the top. The occupiers do not, for the most part, begrudge wealth. But they can see that as the concentration of wealth has increased the "job creators" have failed to create new jobs. They are frustrated that the playing field is tilted toward those with the wealth. They would be happy with a level playing field and the American dream of equal opportunity for all. They believe that people in power should do the "right thing" even when it doesn't benefit them, or their friends, directly.

That was the frustration people had with the situation at Penn State. We might disagree on whether some specific behavior is immoral, but the law is black and white. It is illegal to do certain things to a child and it is the responsibility of adults to protect children from harm. How is it then that those same adults can choose to ignore a problem situation and fail to take immediate action to prevent it from happening in the future?

Many people will lose their jobs as a result of this situation. Worse, many children were probably harmed that shouldn't have been. All this because people failed to do what they knew needed to be done. It's the human dilemma - we feel compelled to avoid personal pain even at the expense of hurting others whom we love. It is only by an act of will that we choose to do the right thing. It's a sacrifice made for an idea that's greater than our personal self-interest. It's an act of love and of hope in a better future. It's enlightened self-interest.

*The research is analyzed in an article by G. William Domhoff, a sociology professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

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Article Tags: 99 percent, financial wealth, financial wealth, level playing field, occupiers, Occupy Movement, Penn State, Penn State, population, population, silent majority



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Online Brainstorming - If any of you have read Jack Canfield's Success Principles or Robert Allen & Mark Victor Hansen, Enlightened Millionaires, you will understand how these great concepts come about. Go back to the original text on Masterminding which is Napolean Hill in Think & Grow Rich. While their are many Mastermind groups out there right now, they arent really true to the original philosophy. In its purest form a mastermind group, or inner circle is a group dedicated to one goal, one cause and they all utilize their personal connections and resources to accomplish it. I think if you really wanted to creat a 'next best thing' you need to find people to join your inner circle. STaff, friends, suppliers, mentors anyone that can dedicate some time to working on it, launching it and reaping the benefits. I think doing one online would be great..who else would be interested?
Book: The 1-Minute Millionaire: The Enlightened Way to Wealt - Book:The One Minute Millionaire: The Enlightened Way to Wealth Robert G. Allen (co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul) 2002 Jacket: Is it possible to make a million dollars in only one minute? The answer just might surprise you. [This book] is an entirely new approach, a life changing "millionaire system" that will teach you how to: 1. Create wealth even when you have little or nothing to start with 2. Use the power of leverage to build wealth rapidly 3. Overcome fears so you can take reasonable risks Use "one minute" habits to build wealth over the long term ...Here are two books in one, fiction and non-fiction, designed to address two kinds of learning so you can fully integrate these life-changing lessons. On the right-hand side pages you will find the fictional story of a woman who has to make a million dollars in ninety days or lose her two children forever. The left-hand pages give the practical, step-by-step non-fiction strategies and techniques that actually work in the real world.


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