The joys of self-interest

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


I think we can all agree that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who would make a better candidate for World Bank president than Paul Wolfowitz. But, this doesn’t necessarily mean a doom and gloom scenario for the future of world poverty. Wolfowitz, in his initial interview since the nomination, pushed a humble, ready-to-listen approach to the Bank job: “I know that in this job, I would be working for them as members of the Bank. I think they’ll find me a good listener, and I know I have a lot that I need to hear and understand.”

He’s no humanitarian, but Wolfowitz may have something many humanitarians don’t: a distinctly selfish drive. Wolfowitz today told the AP>, “I really believe in the mission of the bank, which is reducing poverty. It’s a noble mission and a matter of enlightened self-interest.” If our new World Bank president is noting the concrete connection between the safety and prosperity of the United States and the reduction of poverty worldwide, things might not be as bad as they seem. Perhaps this acknowledgment of self-interest will induce Wolfowitz to push poverty reduction that extra mile. And, if it doesn’t, at least we can selfishly enjoy one less neo-con in the Pentagon.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate