Earning Money

Diary, Tuesday 23rd July 1996:

Walked around Port Antonio and was constantly being accosted by friendly people. Their friendliness carried value. It is part of the necessary ritual of earning a living by opportunity. This friendliness is different to a what we call a disinterested friendliness. That is what Kant wanted to focus on: the idea of the disinterested, except that disinterest is not what we mean when we use the word. It was badly chosen by Kant. With a disinterested friendliness we mean a friendliness that is interested in the person. It is a generous interest and encompasses the world. It is the interest of our being in the world and makes us wealthy in a wide sense. It certainly difference to the short-term interest in a dollar.