“each man is the best judge of his own interests.” my paraphased sentence. it feels modern, almost like something Milton Friedman would say. yet its core echoes, however faintly, through the pages of Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand theory.
“it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” everyone, naturally, acts in their own best interest; in patterns of their own ideal rationality. the baker does not bake bread because he simply enjoys it. he bakes bread because he hopes to feed his family from the profit.
it’s usually rare to find someone who goes against their own natural wiring to act in the interest of everyone else but themselves. so, imagine how radical a certain man’s teaching was to a headstrong people, “love your neighbours as yourself.” “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” i agree with his teachings.
but until everyone else agrees with those teachings, i suppose we can find some peace in Smith’s theory. it is the basis of Social Trust. put loosely, you don’t have to trust that the baker will have bread for you tomorrow because he is simply a good person. you trust that if he does play his part in the community, there’s food for you and there’s money for him. you trust the system that enables the baker’s actions, not his personal compass. you trust that the governor will spend billions fixing the road to his hometown. not that he’s a good governor, but that after his tenure is done, he’ll still visit his family in the village. what roads would he use? Social trust.
(now, i’m thinking about game theory, the Cold War and MAD. but we’ll talk about those some other time.)