French writer and observer of America Alexis de Toqueville wrote a chapter in his famous work, Democracy in America, published in the 1830's, titled How the Americans Combat Individualism by the Principle of Self-interest Rightly Understood

A couple paragraphs from that chapter:

When the world was managed by a few rich and powerful individuals, these persons loved to entertain a lofty idea of the duties of man. They were fond of professing that it is praiseworthy to forget oneself and that good should be done without hope of reward, as it is by the Deity himself. Such were the standard opinions of that time in morals...

The Americans, on the other hand, are fond of explaining almost all the actions of their lives by the principle of self-interest rightly understood; they show with complacency how an enlightened regard for themselves constantly prompts them to assist one another and inclines them willingly to sacrifice a portion of their time and property to the welfare of the state. In this respect I think they frequently fail to do themselves justice, for in the United States as well as elsewhere people are sometimes seen to give way to those disinterested and spontaneous impulses that are natural to man; but the Americans seldom admit that they yield to emotions of this kind; they are more anxious to do honor to their philosophy than to themselves...

Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy in America, Chapter VIII

 

How is the America of 2008 different from the America de Toqueville observed in the 1830's ?

Take another look at this passage:

[Americans] show with complacency how an enlightened regard for themselves constantly prompts them to assist one another and inclines them willingly to sacrifice a portion of their time and property to the welfare of the state.

Is that how all Americans are behaving today ? Is that how the millionaires on Wall Street, who just went begging to the Federal Government for $700 billion are behaving ? Is that how those auto executives who flew down to Washington in their private jets to beg for their own billions behaved ? Is that how tin-eared political leaders of both parties are behaving ?

The obvious and painful truth is it is not how many Americans in positions of political and business power are behaving. Indeed, their standard of conduct can only be called self interest, selfishly understood.It is time for these leaders to look in the mirror and acknowledge their own failures. Time for them to right their own course. In the meanwhile, those of us who believe we are pursuing self interest rightly understood for the benefit of our country should continue to voluntarily sacrifice a portion of our time and property for the welfare of what de Toqueville called "the state", but which I today would call "the American community as a whole."

Though the oft quoted de Toqueville quote on this topic appears to be apocryphal, I think many of us might agree that the sentiment is true, even if the attribution is not.

America is great because America is good.
When America ceases to be good, it will also cease to be great.

The genius of America, as de Toqueville so aptly noted almost two centuries ago now, is that we combined Adam Smith's concept of self-interest with classic Christian principles of the obligations of stewardship. American leaders have lost their way in the crushing seductivity of selfishness. It's time now they regained humility and re-learned the importance of stewardship, servant-leadership, and self-interest rightly understood, rather than wrongly applied.