We know from Atlas Shrugged, and many other Ayn Rand writings, that capitalists are egoists. They trade to make a profit, and this is morally admirable. They are wealth creators. But it is important not to forget that customers and employees are egoists too.
Edwin A Locke
Edwin A. Locke is Dean's Professor of Leadership and Motivation Emeritus at the R.H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland.
He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial & Organizational Behavior, and the Academy of Management. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award (Society for I/O Psychology), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Management (OB Division), the J. M. Cattell Award (APS) and the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the Academy of Management.
He, with Gary Latham, has spent over 50 years developing Goal Setting Theory, ranked No. 1 in importance among 73 management theories. He has published over 320 chapters, articles, reviews and notes, and has authored or edited 13 books including (w. Kenner) The Selfish Path to Romance, (w. Latham) New Directions in Goal Setting and Task Performance, and The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators. He is internationally known for his research on motivation, job satisfaction, leadership, and other topics.
His website is: EdwinLocke.com
A Message to Graduating Students
If you want to lead a successful life, our most urgent advice to you is to reject your professors’ assaults on reason and individualism.
Celebrate Capitalism This May Day
We should not only allow global capitalism; we should welcome it and foster it in every way possible. It is time to rephrase Karl Marx: Workers of the world unite for global capitalism; you have nothing to lose but your poverty.
Let Us Be Clear Once and For All: Socialism Is Not at Root About Economics!
For the Conservatives, Capitalism is moral only to the extent that the capitalist lives to serve others. Self-interest can be smuggled silently in but not as a moral right or as a moral ideal. This means that “creeping socialism” always has the advantage and thus creeps unabated.
Observations on Today’s Political Situation in the U.S.
The ‘progressive’ left and ‘conservative’ right are two sides of a damaged coin. The two sides have differences, but they also have important elements in common, although these are manifested in somewhat different forms.
Michael Sandel’s Tyranny of the “Common Good”
Sandel’s bottom line: you did not earn anything. It is all determined or blind luck. Sandel’s goal is to induce unearned guilt in everyone who does well in life.
Socialism’s Real Agenda: Destruction of the Human Soul
At the deepest level socialism entails the destruction of the human soul- which means the destruction of the mind, of rights, of values, of hope, of freedom- the turning of helpless victims into frightened, selfless beggars hoping for a crust of bread. This is the real meaning and motive of socialist “idealism.”
Reason and Individualism: The Antidote to Racism
It is important to recognize that people are not prisoners of their subconscious and have the power to re-program it by correcting false ideas, including racism, through reason.
Reason, Freedom & Science: July Fourth Celebrates America’s and the West’s Core Values
There are three fundamental respects in which Western culture is objectively the best.
Rational Selfishness and the Great Wealth Creator
People are most often confused by executives who seem to share attributes of both the inflated and the genuine egoist
On Tax Day Thank the Rich and Support Lifting the Tax Yoke off Them
Opponents of tax cuts do not want justice. They want redistribution of wealth
The Only Cure for Racism
If diversity is the cure for racism, why, instead of promoting racial harmony, has it brought racial division and conflict? It is now taken as a virtual axiom that the way to cure racism is through the promulgation of racial and ethnic diversity within corporations,...
Mao: The Unknown Story
I just finished reading: Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Knopf, 2005. I do not necessarily recommend this book--not because it is bad--but because the content is so disgusting (though factual). Mao is clearly the worst monster in world history....
The Greatness of Western Civilization
In this age of diversity-worship, it is considered virtually axiomatic that all cultures are equal. Western culture, claim the intellectuals, is in no way superior to that of African tribalists or Eskimo seal hunters. There are no objective standards, they say, that...
On Flag Day Celebrate America’s Core Values: Reason and Individual Rights
Not since the Revolutionary War has America faced a greater threat to its existence than it does today. A worldwide network of terrorists is bent on destroying us and everything we value. All the more reason to make clear on Flag Day the principles for which we stand....
Tax Injustice Day: Altruism vs. Americanism
On Tax Day consider some basic facts. The wealthiest 1% of the taxpayers pay 34% of all federal income taxes. The top 50% pay 96% of the total bill. This means that the least wealthy 50% pay almost nothing. In short, the income tax system soaks the rich. In the name...
Three Cheers for Wal-Mart
How would you like to be penalized because you do your work too well--for example, for running your business so effectively that it attracts hoards of happy customers? Well, this is what is happening more and more frequently to Wal-Mart. Recently the West Covina,...
Giving Real Meaning to Veterans Day: Fighting for Freedom is No Sacrifice
Veterans Day arouses three emotions in most Americans: solemnity, because it celebrates the veterans who have defended our great country; sadness, because so many have lost their lives in the process; and pride, because they have fought so well. The supreme value that...
Radical Islam’s Assault on Human Life
The monstrous attacks on New York and Washington on September 11 shocked, saddened, and angered all Americans as well as the rest of the Western world. Some causes of this tragedy have already been identified: poor intelligence; inadequate airport and airplane...
NYSE Chairman Should Have Kept His Money–and Been Proud of It
One year ago Jack Welch, who as CEO of General Electric created $400 billion in stockholder wealth, faced a storm of public protest over his retirement benefits, which were worth a modest $2.5 million a year. Welch caved in and renounced the benefits. Now Richard...
Voice of Capitalism
Our weekly email newsletter.