“The point is ladies and gentleman. That greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts threw, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, In all of its forms. Greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind...”
- Gordon Gekko
WALL STREET (1987)
I understand the dislike for the selfish. I do. Whether you are an atheist, religious, or practice some form of Taoism. It seems that being selfish or greedy is the one negative trait that time and time again is frowned upon. Helping out your fellow man when he is in need is the one golden rule that is shared by all believers and non-believers alike. Selfishness, it appears, has become somewhat of a taboo. No one will admit to being greedy or selfish. Everyone wants to be liked and loved. After all, who would want to love and be friends with someone that is selfish?
I find all of this to be misleading and downright naïve. So lets go over the basics.
- No good deed is a selfless act.
o As humans, we are constantly being criticized and critiqued by our actions that we make in our society. There is no bigger critic than our conscience unfortunately. The reason why humans take showers, watch what they eat, and comb our hair is because we are constantly worried what people will think of our image. The same goes for our decisions. We want people to know that we donated to charity, we want them to know that we are nice and considerate people. We want them to know why? Because all of actions equal down to sex. But that’s another paper. If you are donating and you don’t tell anyone. Than you are simply validating your own self-image. When it comes right down to it. Everyone is selfish. We just don’t want to admit it.
- Who says a selfish life has to be one of solitude?
o Be a leader not a follower. If you have a set of principles that you find to be truth. Stick with them. Don’t flip flop your ideals throughout your life. A leader is never lonely. Because a leader always has followers. Know what you stand for. Stay true to your beliefs and guaranteed people will know and admire you for it.
- An honest man is a fool.
o Most people would agree that a lie is a selfish act. I would even consider lying to be more of a taboo than being greedy or selfish. Yet we all lie everyday and much like being selfish it’s the one’s that admit to it that can live happy lives. Now I’m not condoning to be a compulsive liar. But tweaking the truth to your own benefit never hurt anybody and if it does. Who cares? Why spend your life fulfilling others people’s expectations of yourself? This doesn’t mean you should completely abandon the thought of giving to charity or trying to be nice to people. No one likes an asshole after all. Just know that when you do all those “selfless” acts its completely and 100 percent for your benefit. Don’t lie to yourself and say that it isn’t. I love how this puts manipulation and selfishness together as one in a beautiful coupling in order to trick the world that you are a charitable, caring, and honest human being.. I have a made a whole new word for it. SELFPULATION.
Not only is a selfish lifestyle a legitimate way to live it is the only way to live. It’s the only way that humans know how to live. If we are all selfish than how is greed bad? It’s not. It’s human nature. The only difference between me and the rest of the world is that I know this and rather than fight it. I accept it.
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