Museum of unintended consequences/Individual and Society

From CSWiki

The society and the individual are often inseparable. The society can benefit from the selfish individual who acts to improve his own life, and the individual can benefit from the society that wants to exploit or even take his life.

In economics it is well-known that people acting in their own self-interest can create a greater good. The philosopher Adam Smith wrote about the individual in economics, see [1] or [2] "He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it [...] by pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it." Selfish people who act on their own behalf can create values, goods and opportunities for the society. This is the foundation of the free market economy.

On the other hand, altruistic people who act for a greater good can benefit from the society and even become "immortal". People like Jesus or Socrates who gave their life for a greater good (for mankind or the state or whatever) have made themselves immortal. A lucky scientist who devotes all of his life for science, a fortunate athlete who spents all of his time to go in for sports, a soldier who gives his life for a country becomes a hero and gets a memorial, and if he is lucky a building, a place and a street is named after him.

--JFromm 10:16, 3 January 2006 (PST)