Selfish

self·ish

/ˈselfiSH/

adjective

1. (of a person, action, or motive) lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure.
2. 
   

Yes, most of us are. Many of us think we are altruistic and always looking out for those less fortunate. Very few of us are. There is a severe shortage of Mother Teresa's in our world. 

There is a huge self-interest lobby at work in the country, not to mention personal self-interest issues and pressure.

I'm an old retired guy, so let's get my prejudices out of the way. Anything that threatens Social Security, Medicare or old vested pensions is on my hit list. I can totally justify my stance in my mind. I contributed to Social Security, at close to the maximum levels, for 40 years. We Baby Boomers extended an economic bubble that allowed our parents to comfortably retire and keep Social Security solvent for them. The numbers started to deteriorate somewhat when my generation didn't produce as many children. I tried. 

So, now I say, don't screw with my retirement but tax others more and do other tweaks to fix Social Security for future generations. Maybe make IRAs and 401Ks more attractive. I have two more generations of the family already on the planet. 

I'm for raising the gasoline tax to help fix the roads, but I don't buy much gas. I'm all for taxing or fining those who use excessive amounts of electricity or water. Again, I don't use very much of either. 

Most of us are in favor of increased funding for our schools. We are not in favor of an increased evaluation and tax on our real property. 

I'm sort of OK with increased, actually Draconian, taxes on cigarettes. I'm against and tired of the same tax increases on beer, wine, and liquor. Why, because I quit smoking several years ago. I still enjoy adult beverages. 

We all seem to be in favor of controlling, restricting and taxing those categories that don't apply to "ME". 

In general, we think all levels of government need to invest more in our crumbling infrastructure. Just don't raise my taxes to do it. 

I would bet that every time a law or regulation came up that affected your profession or industry, you sided with your profession, industry or company. It's human nature. 

Dedicated environmentalists who work for an oil company, will mostly support legislation and regulations favorable to the oil industry. Otherwise, they might be out of a job. Same deal for staunch conservatives who are employed at a liberal institution. 

I don't know if it is selfish or just self-preservation. Either way, it is behavior that was acquired back when we were competing as a species for survival. Hopefully, we have learned to temper it a little over the centuries. 

I think right now we are at a time when those at the top have become too selfish. Money and power are the only things important. Corporations now only exist for the shareholders and executives. Employees, customers, and the community are nuisances that have to be dealt with. Companies that make billions in profits and pay the CEO millions yet can't pay the workers a living wage are selfish. Legislators who give themselves huge pensions, gold plated medical coverage, and other perks yet won't adequately fund education and social programs are selfish. Corporations and governments that ignore environmental impacts for short term benefits at the expense of the future are selfish. 

The only way to swing the pendulum back toward a less selfish society is to support and elect less selfish and corrupt people to office. Then they can fix the broken legislation and tax codes to more equally spread the burden. The richest 1% shouldn't control 50% of the world's wealth. We can all do our part too. Besides voting, we can contribute to the charities that actually do good work and not those that have highly paid CEOs and boards. 

Being selfish and obnoxious seems to be in vogue right now. Maybe if we are all just a little less selfish, the world will be a better place. Let's give it a try. 

wjh