Egoism is a quality condemned by society: this word comes from the Latin ego - “I”. And it means a person's desire for personal gain. But isn't it natural? It is worth understanding who an egoist is, and is it so bad to be one.
Common opinion
When accusing someone of selfishness, they usually mean that a person thinks only of himself. And he pursues his own interests to the detriment of others, pushes everyone with his elbows on the way to his goals and "walks over the corpses." That's who such an egoist, according to the majority. This is a selfish person who is not capable of loving anyone but himself. Therefore, he takes and takes away much more than he gives, and never helps others. The meaning of his life is to create the best conditions for himself.
Altruism
What an offensive word - selfish! The antonym for him - altruist - seems to be a more positive characterization that is not heard so often. An altruist takes care of others (disinterestedly and selflessly), that is, he easily sacrifices his interests and goals to those of others. They are driven by the best motives: compassion, humanism, mercy and so on.
Struggle and unity of opposites
Altruist will take off his last shirt, just to help his neighbor. For example, a woman who works at the same time, fully organizes the household and takes care of the children, that is, she devotes herself entirely to the family. Her selfish husband considers this situation quite natural and sincerely wonders why his other half is sometimes out of sorts: she takes care of him, her beloved. They complement each other wonderfully, don't they?
Extremes
It is not known whether extreme egoists suffer from the promised loneliness or the disapproval of others, but from an excess of everything that they “grabbed” to themselves - yes. That's what an egoist is - not at all such a happy person as he wanted to be at any cost. The altruist, however, is not happier: perhaps, confidence in his own high moral qualities allows him to assert himself, but in his desire to give endlessly, he will give others all of himself - alas, not infinite. By the way, instead of gratitude, he will probably receive only the title of a spineless rag. And even if his last shirt goes not to a greedy egoist, but to the same altruist who has gone to extremes and poverty, this will not benefit society as a whole: the number of shirtless people in it will remain the same.
Who is a reasonable egoist?
Everyone has their own wants and needs, and in a he althy, developing society, they all need to be taken into account and coordinated with each other. Reasonable selfishness, which is also called publicindividualism presupposes precisely this: a person should fulfill his own desires and achieve his goals, take care of his well-being, but in such a way as not to infringe on the interests of other people. Such a peaceful life will surely bring him more desired joy than the constant struggle with everyone and everyone for the best place in the sun. It is also better for an altruist to be reasonable and take care of others without missing out on his own benefit: he can give them something only when he himself is he althy, rich and happy.
