Column: Invisible Hands and the Power They Wield

Just over two years ago, I became something that never in my wildest dreams did I believe I’d become. I became a businessman. It all started with an opportunity. A fellow psychotherapist at the practice I’d been working at for about five years told me that she was going into practice on her own and was looking for someone to share office space with her. She asked me if I would be interested.

While the thought of owning my own business had never seriously crossed my mind, I did like the idea of having greater control over the treatment I provided to my clients. The offices we shared at the group practice were small and the way we completed our documentation was outdated and paper based. I loved the idea of being able to provide a more comfortable experience for my clients; one with a bigger office, easy online bill payment, heck, maybe even a mini fridge with complementary beverages.

Things moved pretty quickly once I said yes to my colleague’s offer. I created my own limited liability company, got a federal tax ID number and became paneled with as many insurance carriers as would have me. Before I knew it, I was seeing clients in a new practice, a practice that I owned and controlled.

Owning the practice meant that I was suddenly responsible for more than just seeing clients though. I had to pay the rent each month and develop my own documentation system. I also had to do accounting.

Keeping track of revenue and expenses was something new to me. When I’d worked at the group practice, all I had to do was to see clients and collect a check from the practice owner at the end of each month. Now I was the one keeping track of the money coming in and going out.

Once things were ramped up and my practice was firing on all cylinders, I noticed that I had developed a new behavior. I had developed a habit of checking my business bank account at least once a day, and sometimes several times a day. Owning the business meant that I might get a deposit from an insurance company at any time and checking my account and seeing a deposit, especially a large one, was kind of like Christmas Day.

I started to spend more and more time thinking about how much money I was making and keeping close track of how much I netted each month. I began spending more and more time thinking about money and less and less time thinking about my clients.

When I told the colleague with whom I shared the office about my obsessive bank account checking, she confessed to the same affliction!

Way back in 1759, economist Adam Smith first wrote about his concept of the invisible hand of market forces. Smith famously wrote that the self-interested actions of both buyers and sellers in a capitalistic market system invisibly worked for the betterment of both parties. Sellers had to compete with each other to earn sales, and this not only pushed them to create better products, but it also made the products cheaper for buyers. All of this happened automatically, like an invisible hand creating good for all.

And it’s true that the market system often does works this way. Countless people all over the globe are better off because of the workings of this invisible hand. But my experience with the invisible hand of the market wasn’t all positive. The invisible hand of the market made me, at least for a time, lose focus on what my true values were, and focused me solely on dollars and cents.

While capitalism has made many of people richer, the invisible hand of the market also carries the danger of usurping our deepest values. I did not start my practice with the goal of making more money, but the invisible hand of the market silently worked so that money became a major focus.

In our culture, the invisible hand of capitalism can work to make everything about money, and resisting this can take a conscious and continual act of will. When money concerns started to control me, I decided to restrict myself to only looking at my banking app once a week. That practice helps me stay focused on what is most important to me, namely my clients’ success.

The invisible hand of the market is the most powerful unseen cultural force in our lives. But it’s not the only one. The invisible hand of politics is very strong as well, encouraging us to see those who have different political viewpoints than we do as evil. Our two-party system now rests on the foundation of hating people in the other party. The invisible hand of the media we consume often limits us as well, restricting what viewpoints and perspectives we take seriously. 

When you look at your life, what other invisible hands do you see at work forming who you are each and every day, maybe without you even being aware of it happening?

Charles D. Thomas is a writer and psychotherapist who made Three Rivers his home for over a decade. Feedback is welcome at [email protected]


Any views or opinions expressed in “Big World, Small Town” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Watershed Voice staff or its board of directors.