Where I do most of my sailing, there is a man who I barely recognize
and do not know well at all but who is a developer. This man is
wealthy and made his wealth by developing the local area for boaters.
He did not do this simply to be good but to make a profit and in doing
so produced a boating community where none previously existed. He
helped found a local boating organization not to be a good local
citizen but because it benefited his real estate sales. However,
local boaters benefit from his development efforts that made him
wealthy.
Does his huge benefit to boaters make him well liked to them, no, he
seems to be very disliked. I do not know if the dislike is due to
dishonest practices because I have never done business with him. In
spite of all he has done for the local boating community, people say
"He ought to donate that piece of land for a park instead of trying to
develop it" or "How can he try to charge people to use the wet areas,
everyone who bought property thought they owned their canal bottom".
Some of the boaters complained to the state about some very minor
problems on his property and forced him to spend huge amounts for
nearly nothing useful.
All of this would have simply gone over my head (not wanting to get
involved in their community politics) and I would have taken the ideas
of my boating friends as the correct attitude toward him if I had not
been reading "Atlas Shrugged". Now instead of thinking "He's just a
selfish old developer who should care more for people", I think, "Hmm,
he may have made a lot of money but in doing so he sure benefited
everybody around him".