The-Morality-of-Capitalism-PDF

interests of the other party, they will never reach a consensus.What’s more, this would create a society always at odds withitself. This fact goes strongly against the expectations of most.Because The Land of Gentleman is unable to realize a balancein the relations between its inhabitants, it eventually turns intothe Land of the Inconsiderate and Coarse. Because The Land ofGentlemen is geared towards looking after the interest of others,it is a breeding ground for vile characters. When the Gentlemenfail to conclude an exchange, the Inconsiderate and Coarse areable to gain advantage by leveraging the fact that Gentlemen seekprofit by subverting their own interests. If things were to continuein that way, the Gentlemen would likely die out and be replacedby the Inconsiderate and Coarse.From the above point we can see that humans can only cooperatewhen they seek their own interests. That is the securefoundation on which humanity is able to strive for an ideal world.If humankind were to directly and exclusively seek the benefit ofothers, no ideals could be realized.Of course, using reality as our starting point, in order to reduceconflict, we must all pay attention to our fellow man andfind ways to restrain our own selfish desires. But if attention tothe interests of others were to become the goal of all behavior, itwould generate the same conflict as Li Ruzhen described in TheLand of Gentlemen. There are perhaps those who say the morecomical elements of life in The Land of Gentlemen could notoccur in the real world, but as the book gradually makes evident,events in the real world and those in The Land of Gentlemenhave similar causes. To put it another way, both the real worldand The Land of Gentlemen lack clarity regarding the principleof the pursuit of self-interest.What are the motives of the inhabitants of the Land ofGentlemen? We must first ask, “Why do humans want to exchange?”Whether it is primitive barter exchange or modernsociety’s exchange of goods for currency, the motive behindexchange is to improve one’s situation, to make one’s life moreconvenient and more comfortable. Without that motivation, whywould individuals choose exchange over toiling on their own? Allof the material enjoyments we receive, from needles and thread to46