People biologically are psychological altruists. They enjoy and find comfort and fulfillment (of a kind) in group-orientedness. To further complicate their negative reaction to egoistic solutions, altruist ethics and altruist solutions are regarded as wholesome and positive by secular and religious thinkers in the West.
Good is defined as self-sacrifice and self-interest is defined as selfishness and vicious.
Therefore egoism and capitalism--the economic system most conducive to a republican, individualistic culture.
We have not done enough to promote egoism, or its accompanying economic system, free markets.
Stephen Hicks with The Atlas Society wrote a pamphlet called Ayn Rand amd Business Ethics. This is what he writes on Page 2: "Business is a social world governed by self-interest, and moral evaluations of self-interest that determine moral evaluations of the business world.
My purpose in this essay is to defend the egoism that the business world depends upon. Business is about production and trade. Production is a consequence of individuals' taking responsibility for their lives and exercising rational judgment about their needs and how to fulfill them. Trade is a consequence of productive individuals' willingness to intract cooperatively to mutual benefit. These principles--responsibility, rationality, cooperation--are core principles in any healthy moral system and for the core principles of the business world."
My response: I cannot find anything wrong with his definition of business ethics: being reasonable, responsible and cooperative are core ethical principles. I might add that business people and workers need to do excellent work, to be honest, to seek a fair profit but not an eorbitant profit. We should pay our bills to those that we owe money too.
The capitalist system, guided by the natural and superanatural invisible hand, can guided us to republican liberty, prosperity, law and order, peace within the country and internally. We need this system.
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