Every Livng Thing Is Selfish

I have come to see that everyone is selfish. Now this is using Ayn Rand's definition of selfish, as in looking out for one's best interest. Some may dispute this, but as I will show, it's true. This rule applies to every single person that has ever been born or ever will be born. Let's start with children. Why do children even bother paying attention to parents? Because it is in their own best interest. Because if they choose to not follow the rules, things will be bad. In this case, children will do whatever makes them happy. If playing in the mud makes them happy, they will. When parents introduce punishment to this behavior, the happiness is tempered by the negative actions taken. If there is enough deterrent, the activity is seen as negative, and it will no longer be done. Basically, if the kid wants to do something, and there is enough punishment behind it, they will not do it. If there isn't enough punishment, then they will. It all comes down to how highly the kid values the activity, and how well off it makes him or her despite the punishment. The same is true for teens. Teens are constantly railed against as bad, yet they're simply smarter and more complex. We teens know what we want, and that isn't always instant gratification. It could be helping a homeless man, or starting a savings account, or anything. Parents always talk of teens wanting sex, so they establish penalties and punishments if they're caught. In short, if the teen knows a way around them finding out, and values the activity, they will do it. (Religious views will be talked of later.) This is the age when we begin diversifying our best interest, into anything. Where children simply choose instant gratification, unless pressured and prodded and prompted otherwise, teens choose delayed gratification as well. Not so much as adults, but still some. Teens will establish jobs, go to school, make friends, etc. All of this drains their limited pool of time, so why spend the resource? Because what we choose to spend our time, money, and effort in, we perceive will benefit us somehow. Adults, now they're complex. They'll often claim they aren't selfish at all, but that's hardly the case. Adults so often  claim they're better than the companies that are out for money, or people who only care about money, or material wealth. They're exactly the same. When asked of how they're different, they may say they spend their money bettering their family, not seeking wealth. Well, sorry to say, but you better your family because of how that action makes you feel and the knowledge that you will be better off for it. Certainly, if a primary supporter of a household never put money in the family, they would get flak from the members and extended members. If he or she fails to pay property taxes, income taxes, utilities, that member will have their property revoked, be put in jail, or have their utilities shut off. They get paid because the person wants a place to live, wants to not be in jail, and wants modern conveniences. The person knows these benefits will make him or her more production and happy. Now these are common examples, the complex reality is that anything can be viewed as making them better off. It does not rely on one perspective. Someone may view buying a new video game as more important than showering. In this sense, if either the power bill or water bill had to be paid, it would be the power bill. People do what makes them, in their perception, better off. No matter how you personally define it. People simply value different things, and as a result, will align their actions to make them better off according to those values. Now, for religion. A touchy topic, I'm sure. Anyway, people of faith are often called selfless, not the case. They simply value things labeled selfless, and align their actions to those values. Take a preacher; he gets little pay, but he values his work greatly. So he will keep doing the work, even if as a result he has to be extremely poor. A christian will help someone off the street, because it makes them feel good, or because of the reward of heaven or threat of hell. It's the parent-child relationship all over again. The believer will adapt their behavior to the punishments and rewards presented, because they see the rewards as what makes them better off, and the punishments as what makes them worse off. In addition to this, those labeled naturally selfless simply feel good for performing acts labelled selfless. So you can see, everything is done for the self, either to make the self better off in the future, near or far, or to avoid negative consequences.