Crab Mentality vs Civilization

Selfishness, Civilization, Crab Mentality, and the Third World Puzzle

You may have seen in Bengali films: the hero is an orphan, poor. One day he sees the daughter of a wealthy city man who came to wander in the forest, and he falls in love. Later, the girl’s father gives him a condition — if someday he can acquire wealth equal to his, only then he will allow his daughter to marry him. The vagabond hero then slowly rises from being a porter and laborer to a truck driver, then a truck owner, then he starts a company, and one day he ends up buying the heroine’s father’s company itself. Along the way, the hero’s friends, relatives, and dozens of people including villains get killed. All this sacrifice, all this giving of lives, all this struggle, all this hard work — only for a successful marriage. After so much suffering and endurance, the marriage happens and the movie ends! Bengali audiences used to watch these stories mesmerized, but now it seems they no longer want to watch such absurd things. However, this harmful selfishness may have been embedded in Bengalis since the recent past.

Fun Lives Inside Hardship

If the most extraordinary things were the easiest, life would lose its charm. And we live for that charm. But the funny thing is, most enjoyable things are not comfortable. Without the mindset and courage to endure hardship, there is no fun.

This truth sounds simple, yet it hides a deep human paradox. If we get what we want too easily, we no longer want it. A path without obstacles offers little joy in walking. A mountaineer wants to conquer a mountain because it is difficult — if a helicopter dropped him at the summit, he would not feel the taste of victory. A programmer who spends hours debugging and finally catches the bug feels a satisfaction that easy code can never give.

Whether it is climbing the Himalayas, programming computers, or finding an attractive partner — in every case, hardship opens the door to reward.

Natural Inclinations and Human Diversity

There is also a person’s natural inclination or aptitude. Someone who can climb the Himalayas may not be able to express love to the person they care about.

This limitation is actually a beautiful feature of human nature. Every person is extraordinary in some area, but not in all. A mathematician who can solve complex equations in moments may not be able to bargain in the market. A poet who paints the universe with words may not understand a simple business contract. This is not a flaw — it is uniqueness.

This diversity is the greatest asset in human history. If everyone were born with the same kind of talent, civilization could never have come this far. The synergy created when one complements another is the driving force of human civilization. Here lies difference of opinion, different philosophies. From all these differences and diversities, humans build the best future for themselves and society.

It is said, humans are diverse, and this diversity is their beauty. But in society you will see many who do not like this diversity. They not only look at different opinions, beliefs, customs, religions, languages, and cultures with hatred, but also obstruct them, even commit murder or genocide to impose their own thoughts and ideology. Remember, such people or groups are always enemies of humanity, nature, and civilization. It is the duty of you, me, and everyone to resist them.

Newton’s Solitude: Selfishness or Duty?

Take Isaac Newton for example. The plague pandemic had spread. He left Cambridge and went to a remote village.

While Newton sat alone in Woolsthorpe, hundreds were dying daily in London. At the same time, many risked their lives caring for the infected. Some researched why the disease was spreading and how to stop it. And Newton kept uncovering the mysteries of calculus, optics, and gravity.

From the outside, this may look like escapism. But in that solitude, he was writing the future of human civilization. Without calculus, today’s engineering, physics, economics — none would be possible. Without the law of gravitation, we could never go to space, have satellites, or GPS.

The question is — was Newton selfish? In one sense, perhaps yes. He did what gave him the deepest satisfaction. But the result of that “selfishness” benefited all of humanity. When you do what you are best at, it ultimately serves people, society, and civilization.

Diverse Selfishness Is the Engine of Civilization

Actually, people enjoy different things. We are lucky that humans have so much variation in what they enjoy, and so much diversity in their selfishness. As a result, no work remains undone — from helping the distressed to uncovering the mysteries of nature.

This perspective aligns with Adam Smith’s famous idea of the “invisible hand.” When each person works for their own interest, society benefits as a whole. The baker bakes bread for his livelihood, but that bread feeds us. A doctor treats patients out of love for the profession, but that service heals millions. Struggling Bangladeshis sell their land and go abroad to work extremely hard mainly for their own and their family’s economic well-being. But that keeps the country’s macroeconomy alive. Without individual selfishness, the economy would collapse.

Think of a photojournalist. If instead of taking pictures he jumped in to put out a fire, people would never know that day’s history, nor would research be possible. If that photo were Nick Ut’s “Napalm Girl” from the Vietnam War, that single image might have saved millions of lives by igniting the anti-war movement. The photographer could not help immediately, but his work helped far more in the long run.

So you see, if some people had not been “selfish” enough to do their own work, civilization would not have come this far.

The Third World Puzzle: So Many People, So Much Barrenness?

But is that really so? If you are a citizen of a third-world country like Bangladesh or India, you will see many tasks around you remain undone.

Here the question becomes complex. Third-world countries do not lack population. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil — these countries have hundreds of millions of people. Statistically, among such a huge population, there should be many Newton-like geniuses, many brave photojournalists, entrepreneurs, scientists.

Yet among hundreds of millions of people, work does not progress much. It is a strange puzzle! So many people, so many tastes, so many types of personalities — surely many should be willing to work hard for what they love.

Then where are they? Have the nations of the third world, with their hundreds of millions, become so barren? Is this land of potential only growing weeds?

This question is painful but necessary. Because without finding the answer, change will not come. And here emerges the contrast between harmful selfishness and productive selfishness.

Harmful Selfishness vs. Productive Selfishness

In developed countries, people’s selfishness generally does not harm others — this is where third-world countries differ.

Newton went into solitude to research — no one was harmed, because those responsible for controlling the plague did their job. The photographer took pictures — no one was harmed, because the fire-fighting force funded by taxpayers was there to put out the fire. The poet wrote poetry — no one was harmed, because social welfare workers were there to look after the starving person on the street. This type of selfishness is a positive-sum game. One person’s gain is not another’s loss — rather, many benefit.

But in the third world, especially in our society, the nature of selfishness is different. Here people not only become selfish, they become blind for their own interest, causing harm to others. For example, in Bangladesh, many people become so selfish over an unproductive issue like religion that they are ready to destroy those who do not support their ideology. Big companies empty the banks they control to secure their own interests. Politicians and bureaucrats loot public wealth to ensure luxurious lives for their next fourteen generations.

Those who succeed through their own effort, hard work, and talent also face countless obstacles. Here people wait for someone else to move first — then try to pull down the successful one. Everyone looks for ways to take a share of someone else’s hard-earned achievement, even if it means destroying the real achiever.

This can be called a negative-sum game. When an entrepreneur starts a business, instead of competing, others try to destroy him. When a scientist discovers something new, people rush to steal credit. When an honest bureaucrat stands against corruption, he is transferred, denied promotion, or harassed.

Then Where Is the Problem?

The answer is not one-dimensional. But there are clues.

First, weak institutional structure. In Newton’s society, there was a system for recognizing merit. There was the Royal Society, a patent system, academic freedom. In the third world, these structures often do not exist or are corrupt.

Second, the pressure of survival. When feeding the family is a daily struggle, where is the time or mental peace for long-term research or creativity? Newton could research in solitude because he had land and food. Poverty is the enemy of creativity.

Third, the quality and nature of education. Memorization-based exam systems work against critical thinking. Education that does not teach questioning cannot teach discovery.

Fourth, social mindset. The “crab mentality” — where if one crab tries to climb out of the bucket, the others pull it down. This mentality is deeply rooted in many third-world societies.

The Two Faces of Selfishness

Finally, from this analysis, an important distinction becomes clear.

Productive Selfishness: I do my work, you do yours. My success does not harm you; rather, my achievement becomes society’s asset. Newton’s research, the photographer’s picture, the poet’s poem — these are results of this type of selfishness.

Destructive Selfishness: I could not move forward, so you should not either. Seeing your success as the cause of my failure. Taking away or destroying your achievement is my goal.

The first type builds civilization. The second destroys it.

The problem of the third world is not selfishness. The problem is the dominance of the wrong kind of selfishness — where instead of dreaming to move forward, the obsession becomes pulling others backward.

The day our society embraces the culture of “doing what you love” — without harming others, and by developing your own potential to the fullest — perhaps that day this puzzle will be solved. Waiting for that day.