Play the game of desires
RWL #454
Greetings from the LHH![i] Busy week for me – I am on the road every day visiting students – but making good progress. It’s fun to talk to the kids in their roles, and it’s very interesting to spend some time gathering industry intel while I’m out and about (see Read below).
I’m going to cut this short because I want you to at least read my note about the Listen, even if you don’t listen (which you should because Arthur Brooks is great). Play the game of desires!
OK – to the links. Let me know what you think in the comments. As usual, willing good for all of you!
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Read
What: WSJ, What if Your Salary Is Too High for Today’s Job Market?
Why: As I mentioned, I’ve been on the road for the last couple of weeks visiting all the organizations my students are at. One thing I am hearing from the hospitals and nursing homes is they are finally getting rid of most of their agency personnel. For those of you outside in the industry, agency personnel are typically temporary nursing staff – RNs, but also LPNs and CNAs. The organizations have to pay 50 to 200% more for agency personnel, the workers themselves get boosts in pay over their permanent colleagues by a portion of that. So, the organizations are very happy because this has been a problem since COVID. But while this is a good news story for the employers, it’s a sign that the labor market is getting worse for employees. That’s consistent with this story and others that I have been reading. It’s still a good market, but business is slowing down. All the chaos of the Trump administration is not helping.
My observation is companies do RIF higher salary employees, so like in many things, it’s best to be in the middle of the pack.
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Watch
What: America’s Got Talent, Nobody Saw This Coming! Astrid Makes The Audience Sing In Harmony To "Africa" By Toto! (7 min)
Why: A music teacher gets the audience to sing an excellent choral version of Africa with zero practice. It’s kind of amazing! Also, Africa has been one of my favorite songs for about 40 years. The first three minutes are just fantastic – that’s the singing part. The rest is the judges debating about whether this is an act or not. I think so. I will be taking my economics “act” to America’s Got Talent soon.
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Listen
What: Conversations With Coleman, The Secret To A Fulfilling Life (Backed by Science) w/ Arthur Brooks (75 min)
Why: Arthur Brooks plays a game with Coleman Hughes in which he asks him to rank order four desires: Pleasure, Honor, Wealth, and Power. The clever part is he asks him to work from the one he would be most willing to let go to the one he has to admit he values the most. It’s a very telling little game – or therapeutic trick - the game of desires. And it’s totally based in the classical virtues and early Christian natural law that I wrote about in last weekend’s FITW letter. I.e., it is very Augustinian. I plan to write more about Augustine’s “Ordered Loves” this weekend after listening to this.
So, let me play this. The idea is to ask yourself if you had to have less of one of these than the average (not zero), which would be the first you would let go? For me, it is easy: pleasure. I was raised a traditional Catholic, and denying oneself pleasure is kind of basic to the system. It’s also basic to accomplishing most things in life. Funny little anecdote, I was talking to a family friend of my parents shortly after I graduated from college, reciting all the things that I had accomplished, and after which she said, “But you had fun, right?” I had to pause because it never occurred to me that college was supposed to be about fun. I guess that’s why I have a harder time connecting with undergraduates than I do with graduate students.
I would let go of wealth next. I kind of already have given my professional pursuits of being in the Army and then being a professor. Neither of those professions feature in the Forbes 100 richest people list.
The last two are harder, and harder to admit to. I have been drawn to leadership roles most of my life, so I have to admit to liking power. I also spend a lot of time doing public performances, like this one, so I obviously like honor. I would say, since I gave up leadership roles for a long time when I came to UNH, but pursued public facing opportunities, I would rank power below honor, but it’s close.
I think if you only knew how I ordered these four desires, you would know a great deal about me.
I asked ChatGPT to define these four desires in the way Aquinas would. I think Brooks would appreciate it. Here’s what it said:
· Pleasure is a good that accompanies right activity—but lust or gluttony distort this by seeking pleasure detached from proper ends.
· Wealth is a tool for supporting life—but greed hoards it as an end.
· Power can serve justice—but dominance or control pursued for their own sake corrupts it.
· Honor is due to virtue—but vainglory or pride arises when we demand recognition or place our identity in status.
You play the game now!
[i] The LHH is the Last Homely House. But also, I just want to be super clear that the opinions expressed here are my own, not those of UNH or any related organization, nor are they TLW’s, who frequently tells me I am off my rocker, nor any other person who might be embarrassed by my musings. They are mine, all mine.