Rational self interest, I’m starting to think it may be the single most misunderstood of Ayn Rands ideas. I recently read a Mashable article where a man spent 30 days writing “Read Ayn Rand” across the US using Google Earth and a GPS. The author ends her article on the event saying:
we can’t help but wonder what Rand herself would have thought of the stunt. After all, part of Objectivism, a philosophical system she developed, states: “Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.”
To that end, perhaps Newcomen should have scrawled his own name across the States
From the authors point of view a brief moment of Internet fame would have been in someones rational self interest but encouraging other people to read certain books would not. In this I think she got the concept completely wrong. Rational self interest does not referring to the whims or desires of the moment (like a brief blip of internet fame). It refers to acting in a manner that promotes your long term personal life and happiness (without violating anyone’s right to do the same).
For example it’s not in my rational self interest to donate out of guilt to any charity that sends me address labels. However it’s very much in my rational self interest to donate to a children’s research hospital trying to cure childhood cancer. Keeping the goal of long term happiness in mind I look at my children, think of my future grandchildren and give money so an organization like that will be there if I should ever need it. The side affect of my long term rational selfishness is that a good cause has more funds and others benefit just by me being “selfish”.
However it would not be in my self interest to then petition for a new tax to fund the hospital. By forcing others to pay for what I value I open the field to whoever has the most pull. Instead of getting lots of funding for my organization I may find my money taken to fund a completely different project. As soon as I say force is ok it’s just as likely to be used against me as for me. Rationally I do not pick a course that could hurt what I value instead of help.
In the case of writing “Read Ayn Rand” instead of his name I would say it’s very much rational self interest. My guess is he feels the world would be a better happier place to live in if a lot more people read and followed Ayn Rand. In his view a brief bit of Internet fame caused by writing his name would not have been worth the time and effort. However getting attention to a cause that he thinks will make the world a better place for him to live, that is definitely rational self interest.
