Arguments of the type made by that article always sound to me like this:
“It’s foolish to invest in Apple, because Steve Jobs is a corporate narcissist: He only cares about his own vision and self-aggrandizement. Maximizing shareholder value is just his way of getting attention.”
It’s not a perfect parallel, given the real concern that someone who does good for their own ego may stop doing good if it stops feeling rewarding (while Steve Jobs is guaranteed to keep being famous while Apple prospers). But since nearly everyone has at least some level of egocentric motivation, the solution for a group that really cares about doing good is closer to “show more appreciation and reward good work” than “watch out for communal narcissists”.
Arguments of the type made by that article always sound to me like this:
“It’s foolish to invest in Apple, because Steve Jobs is a corporate narcissist: He only cares about his own vision and self-aggrandizement. Maximizing shareholder value is just his way of getting attention.”
It’s not a perfect parallel, given the real concern that someone who does good for their own ego may stop doing good if it stops feeling rewarding (while Steve Jobs is guaranteed to keep being famous while Apple prospers). But since nearly everyone has at least some level of egocentric motivation, the solution for a group that really cares about doing good is closer to “show more appreciation and reward good work” than “watch out for communal narcissists”.