Self-interest run amok

Ok, let me start with a confession. I am an elderly white male – full of white privilege and very fortunate. I know a bit about self interest. I have it, big time, even when I am not conscious of it.

This self interest, i.e. this primordial concern for one’s own survival, seems to be built into every living species on the planet. If we did not have self interest, we surely would not have survived in a brutally competitive world where others are also motivated by their own self interest.

However, it seems like the self-interest gene has leapt out of control. We in the western world now exalt in our “freedom”! We are distinct, we are different, and we are not afraid to flaunt it – in our clothes, our tattoos, our piercings, our hairdos, in all of our material accoutrements, cars, homes, etc.

Karl Marx: Analysis that leads to paralysis

Many years ago when I was in seminary, trying to unravel the mysteries of life, I noticed an unusual phenomenon. It was possible after endless probing and analysis to arrive at a point where any action could be so severely critiqued as to arrive at a point of complete inaction.

I notice that this phenomenon of analysis leading to paralysis is not only a danger of seminarians. It can also afflict materialist Marxists as well. A friend of mine is an astute Marxist analyst. He does not vote. When asked what actions he takes as a result of his analysis he said, “Nothing”.