Enlightened Self-Interest: Individualism, Community, and the Common Good

Insights into a compassionate alternative to a ruthlessly self-interested capitalist culture

Societally sanctioned competition for money, power, and fame promotes selfishness, personal alienation, and widespread inequality, especially in market-oriented economies. Yet many of those engaging in this competitive individualism―the competition for rewards and limited resources―yearn to act directly to promote a more civil, equitable, and sustainable society.

Enlightened Self-Interest offers evidence-based insights into the societal and individual consequences of this cultural practice and an actionable alternative to it. This meticulously researched and empirically rooted reexamination of hypercompetition and zero-sum thinking presents inspiring examples of people who have reclaimed their own lives by contributing to a more civil, equitable, and sustainable society. They model the vision of enlightened self-interest, merging self-interest with other interests in pursuit of the common good, resulting in widely shared benefits.

Enlighted Self Interest provides a compelling case for incremental change and a series of actionable recommendations to jump-start a personal transition and to become part of a collective radical evolution.

Thomas J. Bussen is an assistant teaching professor of business management at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. His most recent book is Shaping the Global Leader: Fundamentals in Culture and Behavior for Optimal Organizational Performance (2019), coauthored with Henry Biggs and Lenny Ramsey.

Henry Biggs is founder and CEO of the higher education software company Eusabian Technologies. He also teaches international intellectual property law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Timothy Bono is an assistant dean in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, and lecturer in psychological and brain sciences, at Washington University in St. Louis. He is author of Happiness 101: Simple Secrets to Smart Living and Well-Being (2020).