SELF INTEREST? DON’T FORGET THE ‘ENLIGHTENED’ PART

‘Self interest’ is the biggest driver in human history. Think about it.

Self + Interest = “Waddabout me?” But, you know this.

They aren’t cuss words, or accusations, like ‘selfish interest,’ or, ‘selfish bastard,’ because this is where the enlightened part is supposed to kick in.

“Enlightened self interest,” or, “Whaddabout me and you?”

That’s what it sounds like.

Not this:

“I got mine so ‘f’ the rest of you. Pound sand, losers.”

Here’s the problem: Ditching ‘losers’ means people you’ve known long enough to have an opinion about.

And they know you.

Ordinarily, people feel the ebb and flow of emotions over time and cherish each moment for the joy life brings and seek more moments to cherish between forgettable times.

Then there’s this:

‘But I’ve never had a forgettable time in my dance through life.’

Yes, you have.

Life is the momentum of straining forward together against a backward drag in moments like the one it takes you to read this. (To continue, or not to continue?)

Then something changes, happens, and the moments vanish.

Loser Lifestyle Not Just For Losers

When I read novels I look for lifestyle clues of the the heroes and villains. The same with video.

There’s always the social facade of normalcy, then the slow peel back of the curtains in one scene after another in surprising ways with shocking results.

I’m fan of Always Sunny In Philadelphia because it’s all about the curtains.

One episode showed how Frank lived, his apartment with Charlie, their mess. The self interest was dramatically low.

It’s wasn’t pretty. It never is. But, what if it is pretty, a little too pretty?

It could be you need to up your Frank and Charlie standards.

Lifestyle Of Enlightened Self Interest

I see two kinds of people: Those who get help, and those who get help but say they don’t.

Two more: Those who help others, and those who help others, won’t acknowledge it because of ‘beliefs’, but still do the right thing.

Okay, these two: People who say, “If not now, when? If not us, who;”

And people who say, “What’re you lookin’ at?”

The group I’m looking at are the those getting the help they’ve needed, but too proud to admit they needed it. The, “I don’t support Obamacare, but I’m glad I’ve got my ACA card,” people.

Help is coming because someone ditched the losers for enlightened self interest. If you’ve got a better name, leave it in comments. Just don’t call them heroes.

These people don’t want their constituents dying in bridge failures, train crashes, mine collapses, or farm accidents. Their focus on infrastructure, in building and re-building, on helping America be America and not a playground for publicity loving billionaires to wipe their feet on, is their legacy.

My readers already know that

These are the names of the House Republican members who voted to pass a bill to make America great and show the world how things get done around here.

• Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska
• Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
• Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York
• Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
• Rep. John Katko of New York
• Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
• Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York
• Rep. David McKinley of West Virginia
• Rep. Tom Reed of New York
• Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey
• Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan
• Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey
• Rep. Don Young of Alaska

West Virginia is in the House, if not the Senate and Joe Manchin.

I wrote a post about Sen Joe Manchin of West Virginia shaded around ‘professional signaling.’

The more I did my own research, the less I liked what I read about a power broker on the wrong side of history. He’s a man with elevated levels of self interest, which isn’t a bad thing, but something’s missing.

For Manchin the enlightened part of self interest is knowing what his state needs and doing something about it, but what shines brighter for him is doing what he needs to get re-elected.

And this is where we see the fine lines of character standing out like classic sculpture that has endured the ages, or a blob of semi-recognizable clay in a blue suit molded by donations to his next campaign and breaks for his business.

Careful shoppers know the difference between self interest and enlightened self interest.

“Whaddabout me and you, and them?”