We each are born into these physical bodies to experience life as the center of our respective universes, totally immersed in the experiences life brings. In other words, I'm born to live my life, while you live yours.

Unfortunately, such egocentrism is the reason our world is in the state it is in. Most are out to get what they can to serve their own interests, even when others are hurt or disadvantaged in the process.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the conduct of our public affairs.

Egos in Action
At the heart of those affairs is an economic philosophy that caters to our individualist tendencies, allowing us to feed our own needs and desires through a quest for personal gain. And for those who are in positions of advantage or play the game well, build significant wealth in the process.

Unfortunately, human nature is such that few are content with simply meeting those needs. Whether fueled by a desire for more or fear enough won't be available in the future, it often comes with an insatiable hunger to use this advantage to stack the deck even more in their favor.

And when even that is not enough, they contest amongst themselves to see who can benefit the most.

This desire to serve self is not limited to the economic arena, for it bleeds over into other affairs as well.

For some are less motivated by money than by power and the ability to direct or at least influence the lives of others. Such individuals too often gravitate to politics where those are the tools of the trade.

As much as we like to believe our political system in America is built on freedom, equality and justice, in actuality those ideals are pushed aside in their ongoing games of power. Just like the Hatfields and McCoys, Democrats and Republicans carry on from generation to generation a continual blood-feud to control the direction of our country.

It would be bad enough if these games were simply limited to politics. But since politics and economics both bleed over into each others domains, those of a political bent naturally interact with those seeking wealth. The result is a symbiotic relationship where each trades what it has so each can get more of what it wants, imposing a stranglehold at the very top of the food chain where the course of our public affairs is set.

This should not be interpreted as saying that all who go into business do so out of greed, or that those in politics do so for power and influence. It's just that many who do succumb to the influence of self-interest, and like an addict that can't turn away from his next fix, they get carried away in the pursuit of their passion.

When this happens, these good-hearted individuals too often ignore the possibility their participation in the game does more harm than good.

A Case Study - the Wall Street Bailout
Witness the recent Congressional bailout of Wall Street. It clearly demonstrates both the excesses of a system based on self-interest run wild, as well as the ineptitude of government to overcome its influence and effectively manage our affairs.

However, those who've participated in setting the stage for our current economic problems accept little responsibility. Instead they point fingers at the failure of others to act to save them from themselves.

Worse, the situation is used to perpetuate the politics as usual atmosphere that permeates Washington.

Republicans blame a Democratic Congress that blocked every attempt to pass meaningful legislation, less on idealistic grounds than to make sure Republicans would have nothing to crow about in the coming election.

Democrats in turn excoriate the Republicans, especially the Bush Administration, for filling the pockets of a handful of corporate giants.

Despite their illusion of enmity, both conveniently got together to throw billions upon billions into the Wall Street black hole. And we're only now beginning to see how poorly that's working out.

Of course, the Democratic leadership is now leading the charge to blame it all on Republicans, conveniently omitting their own part in opposing efforts to regulate the financial industry that could have kept the whole mess from happening in the first place.

They also seem to forget those very same Democrats were behind many of the conditions that set it all in motion, like when they pushed banks to weaken lending policies to make loans to people with questionable ability to repay them.

Moreover, after pressuring banks to loosen their lending criteria, they passed legislation to get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy such loans (and encourage even more), who in turn spread the risk of default to investors through the sale of mortgage-backed securities.

The Dems didn't care so long as the money flowed. And flow it did. For with risk comes reward, and so long as those loans performed, the high rates of return they generated made such investments attractive indeed. At least, until the bottom dropped out of the market.

In return, Fannie Mae funneled large campaign contributions back to those same Congressional "leaders," causing them to turn a blind eye to the risks imposed by such actions and oppose the regulations that would reign them in.

As long as they could sell the securities and pass off the risk, Fannie Mae didn't mind. After all, those who ran it didn't actually have their own "skin" in the game. Instead, they performed the role of high-leverage bookies, playing one side against the other and taking a healthy cut off the top of all the action Washington was allowing them to make.

As this is being written a few days before the 2008 election, it remains to be seen who the voters will hold accountable. Certainly the party in the White House deserves its share of the blame. Then again, so probably should the Congress that made it all possible.

In the mind of a shallow public, perhaps it's time to let the Dems have their turn. Who cares that they were as much or more responsible for the mess our grandchildren will have to pay to clean up?

The polls say their politics of blame are working, and that Democrats will be rewarded for their actions and returned to Congress in even greater numbers.

What Do We Expect?
This should come as no surprise. It is simply the application at the highest levels of government of the very same tendencies toward serving self-interest that we all exhibit in our individual lives.

Nevertheless, the more such relationships come to light, the more we are given the opportunity to consider whether it's time to raise our vision beyond our own situations to encompass more of the needs of the whole.

Assuming the people are not ready for such a dose of self-realization, then our egocentric ways must continue on. All we need do is draw an arbitrary line in the sand, saying a little bit of greed is okay but going too far is wrong.

But that risks allowing business to go on as usual, for as we know, even the most egregious abusers rarely suffer detriment by reason of their participation. And when they do, only the faces change. The game goes on the same.

One day, though, the music will stop, and we'll be the ones left standing. And when we look to point the finger of blame, we just might find it points back at us for shirking our responsibility to require our leaders to rise above self-interest even when we couldn't.

That may prove to be an uncomfortable time indeed.