#rational selfishness

[santmali]

[samstars]

A story concerning capitalism and personal achievement (aka when you use Ayn Rand's model as justification)

Dean Banks' father paid upwards of $70,000 in tuition fees to foster Dean's budding talent in building and architecture. After several years of working out of a small basement office for a pittance, he get his break when he is invited to join a team headed by an influential architect. He earns a name for himself with his edgy and contemporary designs. Pretty soon Dean creates his own architecture firm, hires talented students straight out of undergrad school and starts designing structures for clients all around the globe. He retires as a wealthy man at the age of fifty with a net worth of over twenty-five million dollars. He regrets his failed marriage but enjoys the company of his grandchildren and visits from his former protégé. On his sixtieth birthday, he unveils his masterpiece- a beautiful building composed of glass and steel. Ali Sani attended school until he was eight years old when corrupted government officials shut down the local school. He starts working at a barber shop. Customarily, his family were farmers but the demand for rice has fallen dramatically over the past few decades so his father has left for the city to make money. Ali likes to watch the TV at the shop and dreams of the days when he can operate a hotel like Fawlty Towers with enough rooms to house his family of six. When he turns fourteen, he joins his father in the steel mines and lives in room with eight other people, while earning two dollars a day. As he is an extremely hard-working and dutiful employee, Ali is promoted to the position of overseer where he makes an extra 25 cents a day. On his thirty-fifth birthday, he suffers from an injury in the mine that requires the amputation of his left leg. He is fired from the steel mines. His father hears that the people owning the mine are paying a visit. When he sees them touring the mine, he approaches them and begs them to employ his son again. His efforts are futile. In fact, even if they are interested in what he was saying, they can't understand him. They are American. They speak english and he doesn't. You can say that rational selfishness is good for you. You can say that our current economic system is good for you. But don't say it is good for all of us universally. Don't say it is good for all of us because it rewards personal achievement. Especially since in most of the developing world, it hinders personal achievement.