Be Absolutely Selfish

Why being the long-term kind of selfish can be good for everyone

Is it better to be selfless, or selfish? Most people would say the good, moral thing to do is be selfless, altruistic. Feed the hungry, give to the poor, take care of the sick, serve your neighbors and your masters.

It’s the essence of western morality, the deeply Christian concept that we are to shoulder each other’s burdens, to be like Christ and take the suffering of others onto ourselves.

But:

“The neighbor praises selflessness because it brings him advantages!”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science

People hear words like selfishness and fear it. We’ve all been conditioned to think that anything that doesn’t serve (other people’s conception of) the good or God, is wrong.

For fear of imaginary, otherworldly hellfire, people obey the people who are secretly selfish, who lead them into the real hell of sacrificing themselves for things which don’t benefit them.

This mess can be cleared up, but it’s going to take some honesty. Everyone is selfish — yes, you too. Everyone wishes for health, wealth, power, excitement, joy.

Some are honest, some people hide it. And of course there’s incentive to hide your selfishness in a…