Adam Smith Was Right

Last Monday evening (7/4/08), I gave a talk at TVRI Jatim on the conversion of kerosene to LPG. When TVRI asked me to be a resource person, I was at first reluctant, because I felt I was not quite fit yet and many paper works had been piling up during my bed rest, so I would rather spend the evening to start sorting out the homework. But on the second thought, I couldn’t afford to refuse the invitation for these reasons: 1) it’s a call of duty; 2) it’s time to pay forward to others many opportunities that I’ve received and some knowledge that I’ve gained ; and 3) it’s a simple job, a labor of love, with noble values. Morally speaking, did I do something good? I don’t know. But it’s obvious I did serve TVRI request as it served my interest too. The interest needs not be a financial interest, to “feel better off” by doing or not doing something is also an interest. In this regard, even when someone is saving a prayer, he/she’s basically pursuing his/her self-interest, if by doing it, that someone feels better-off.

Adam Smith is right when he said: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest”.