You may find this essay to be considerably meta. The hope is that the insight can be applied, usefully, to your own pursuits.
I thought back to a 1987 lecture by a world-renowned psychologist, spiritual leader, and academic. In it, Ram Dass recalled a story where he explained to his father that though he could sell his book for $10, he would sell it for $4.50. Each book sold would earn him a profit of $.50 when he could have earned a per-book margin of $5.50. When his father asked why he’d be so anti-capitalistic, he replied (in so many words), “Would I sell this book to you for $10? No, you’re my father.” Dass viewed every potential reader as a member of “us” and not “them.” You never expect your closest friends and family to pay a price that would enrich you.
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