Taking Care of Humankind
What Fuller said here is correct; selfishness is no longer necessary per se, though I suppose it depends on how one defines the word “necessary.” It’s certainly hard to imagine capitalism existing in its absence. Moreover, if you’re an acolyte of Ayn Rand, you believe that it’s a virtue, thus the 1964 compilation of essays (“The Virtue of Selfishness“).
Many find the hybrid form of government that exists in the Nordic countries appealing, where taxes are higher than they are in the U.S., but almost everyone (89%) is happy to pay them, because of the great benefits they receive. The citizenry also seems to appreciate the feeling of community and the knowledge that huge masses of people are not destitute, hungry, or dying of treatable diseases.
This seems quite reasonable, doesn’t it? That these people are constantly at the top of the “happiness” rankings seems intuitively obvious, given that most people are good by nature. The vast majority of humankind is turned off by watching others suffer; people of compassion place a great deal of value on the well-being of others.
Craig,
Why do you persist in claiming a “utopia” exiting in Nordic countries ? The maximum personal income tax rate in Sweden is 61% (which no one pays) and in Norway 55%, (with massive avoidance)
In both nations, the Progressive Liberal policies of past governments have led to increasing national debt, disunity and political upheaval as recent governments have, from necessity, been forced to dismantle the welfare state and re-erect migration controls.
The “Nordic Dream” has long since crashed and burned as economic and social pressures have mounted.
In Sweden resentment has exploded over the influx of more than 600,000 immigrants over the past five years, mostly from war-ravaged countries like Afghanistan and Syria, a huge number for a country of only 10 million.
Soaring crime rates, gang violence, complaints about education and pregnant mothers unable to access from maternity wards due to overcrowding, along with people waiting longer than 90 days for an operation or specialist treatment has tripled over the past four years. The number of under-qualified medical staff has become a real problem forcing Swedes to travel to Germany for treatment.
The Swedish Prime Minister admired, Despite high taxes, Swedish government services aren’t adequate. Swedes are receiving poor value for money.the system needs to obtain the efficiencies only private enterprise can provide”.
In Norway, it was recently revealed more than 35% of the population have foreign bank accounts usually in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or the Channel Islands.