Generosity Reciprocated

Nearly everyone except for the amazingly selfish will agree that generosity is an important quality to have. I believe this to be the case also, for two distinct reasons. First, being a Christian, I find that a generous spirit brings me closer to God through the imitation/emulation of Jesus. Second, I find that generosity towards others is often reciprocated in turn. While I find the first reason to be a more noble and selfless reason to have a generous spirit, the second reason is an inherently more selfish reason insofar as one is being generous to gain something in return. I would agree with Immanuel Kant that there is no tension between these two motivations as long as the second does not eclipse the first, making the recipients of generosity merely a means to one's own selfish ends.

Tonight I am being generous by taking my two teaching assistants out to dinner at 99 Bottles downtown to thank them for all their hard work this past quarter. The selfless reason for this is that I make more money than they do and can afford the expense; so being genuinely appreciative of their hard work for me I would like to do something nice for them. The selfish reason for picking up the dinner tab is that people who feel genuinely appreciated are that much more likely to go the extra mile and put in lots of hard work for you. The $100 expense for a three-person dinner is a significant chunk of my allotted summer funds, but the hard work these assistants have given me is well worth the expense.

The time I have saved by not having to do my own grading has allowed me to pursue my other activities more fully, such as writing my dissertation, blogging, writing articles for Associated Content, starting my new job, and spending time with my wife. So I consider the $100 dinner cost to be an investment that has already paid out several times over in terms of the time I have saved to dedicate to my other activities. So while my natural inclination as a saver/investor may be to be cheap and to skimp on the dinner, the $100 is a small price to pay for a generosity of spirit as well as to reward my TA's past hard work and to secure their future hard work and loyalty.

So while saving and investing money is important, remember that certain expenses are best thought of as investments. Even if no immediate monetary return is evident, sometimes the returns take other forms that are even more important than money. You need not live the life of Donald Trump, but you need not be cheap either. Generosity is the happy medium between frugality and extravagance.