Raise the Hammer

Zombie, my handle is not a reference to Adam Smith, but Al Smith, his younger, less well known cousin.

Through researching many rare historical documents, I have become fascinated with his take on the human condition. He agreed with many of the ideas his cousin Adam wrote about, but for his own unique reasons.

Al Smith believed the world was inherently balanced. He also believed that compassion, while extremely important to the human condition, could produce negative side effects.

Just like in the story of the Garden of Eden, knowledge of good and evil can lead to negative consequences. Al believed that God made all human emotions good and that each one had an important use to drive mankind forward.

He believed that placing too much emphasis on things like compassion, actually caused more problems then it solved. What a successful life required was both pain pain and pleasure, work and reward.

Moreover, since he believed the world was always in balance, any attempts to give to others was offset by a cost to the recipient. Since this cost may not directly accrue to the giver, man had a way of believing that it did not exist. Man believed that you could actually get something for free.

Al Smith knew that free lunches did not, nor could not exist in a balanced universe. This led him to believe that the best way to create wealth for people, was to first ask them to give up something in return.

In today's world, compassion is highly esteemed, but greed is looked at as some sort of character flaw. Here is an example that highlights the flaw in this way of thinking...

Imagine two friends, one with a house to sell and the other in need of a house to buy. The person who wants to sell the house sets the price below market value, in order to help his friend.

The friend who is looking to buy, counters with an above market price, since he also wants to give his friend a good deal. This back and forth goes on until each one tries to outdo the other in being a good, caring person.

In the end, the buyer ends up selling the house to a stranger, at full market price. The buyer ends up having to look for another house and all because they were both unwilling to be selfish.

Since balance is an automatic function of the universe, whether you help someone or not, the universe will make sure that each person will pay a price for everything they get in life. Therefore, the next time you help someone, keep in mind you are probably just helping yourself.