Selfishness, Consequences, Wealth

Every action affects, to contingently varying degrees, both the agent and others, e. g. hurting someone and merely walking past someone is each an effect on another. Thus, on descriptive grounds alone, Mill's calculation of the General Good, which incorporates all the consequences of an action, is more accurate than is Bentham's, which abstracts from the effects of an action on anyone other than the agent. Imagery from over the centuries, such as 'trickle-down', and 'a rising tide lifts all boats', are familiar, though methodologically n0n-rigorous, attempts to supplement the Selfishness principle with a representation of other consequences, in order to arrive at a representation of the General Good. They are, thus, tacit acknowledgements of the inadequacy of the cardinal principle of Capitalism, that the pursuit of Self-Interest of each citizen suffices as a means to the Wealth of a Nation.