The free market is the greatest instrument for overall prosperity and well-being the world has ever seen. It operates by a very fundamental principle: individuals will succeed by providing the greatest help to the overall good. Oddly enough, this is also a description for spiritual fulfillment.
To succeed in the world of free market capitalism an individual must provide a good or service at a price that is less than the same or a similar good or service provided by others. In other words, you must satisfy a particular need for someone and do so at less cost than others. This is true whether you are a businessperson, an employee, or any other functioning member of a capitalist economy. In this sense, we are all in business. I will not be able to keep my job, if I do not provide value to my employer that exceeds what he pays me, in the same way that a business will not survive when its product is inferior to the competition’s in relation to its price. The more I provide a good or service to the general population at less cost than others the more I will succeed, and the greater good I do. The likes of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, like Henry Ford and David Rockefeller, should be commended for their wealth in that it was obtained by providing so much positive financial reward—value exceeding cost–to the general population they became extraordinarily wealthy.
Is spiritual behavior so different? People strive to be good for a whole host of reasons, all of which in one way or another can be regarded as “selfish.” I do good things for someone I love because it brings me pleasure to do so. I do good things for someone I dislike because perhaps I want them to like me, or I want to keep our relationship peaceful, or I believe it might help me get into heaven, or I believe it is best for society. All of these things amount to self-interest. Success in the realm of spirituality is similar to success in the capitalist world in that it is founded upon self-interest. Self-interest is at the heart of all that is good, whether spiritual or material.
Do not, however, confuse self-interest with selfishness. Selfishness is the pursuit of self-interest to the detriment—at the expense of—the general interest, not in support of it. In this sense, selfishness is like cheating, looking to get away with doing less, or escaping obligations others are called upon to fulfill. Ready examples are corporations that dump waste illegally, unions unduly seeking to have workers earn more and work less to the clear detriment of the company or industry of which they are an integral part, employees slacking, employers exploiting—all of these are selfishness at work, not self-interest. Think of selfishness as some short-term benefit with a very detrimental long-term consequence. Self interest is all about the long term—it is about success, improvement, the greater good—it is about heaven for God’s sake.
Material success is not the same as spiritual success, of course. They are two entirely different realms of activity. If Henry Ford accumulated all of his wealth, but in his private life was abusive, unfair, violent and dishonest he would be a spiritual failure, and these characteristics would be completely out of character given his material success. Those traits are not a formula for material success, unless you are a gangster, and that success will not last very long. Likewise, Mother Teresa could hardly be regarded as a financial success.
The point is the same character traits that bring material success to the capitalist arena can and should bring spiritual success in the spiritual arena. Do the most good you can, at the least cost to others—it works wherever you are.
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