Benefits of Objective Living

Motivated by fellow blogger at Mike's Eyes, I have begun to think about how objectivism has benefited me in my life. One of the greatest feelings that I have obtained is living wholly for myself. This is a level of selfishness that I would not have reached if it wasn't for Ayn Rand.

When I talk with non-objectivists about being selfish and its benefits I find that the common response is a look and tone that I am cold-hearted, greedy, and that I would rather gain a dollar than save my own mother. This is a direct product of the altruistic environment that our county is immersed in. I grew up in it and believed it for awhile, but it wasn't until I started living totally selfish that I realized how incorrect and backwards that stereotype is.

My friends and acquaintances know that I am a truly nice and kind person. Anyone who spent five minutes with me would see that I am not cold-hearted or greedy (I also call my mother every week). Being selfish doesn’t remove the quantity or quality of kind things that I do ... it adds much more. A great way to look at it is like this:

Case 1 – Suppose I am walking down the street and a police officer notices me walk by a piece of trash and mistakenly thinks that I threw it on the sidewalk. The police officer stops me and tells me to pick up the trash or I’ll get a ticket. I know that the easiest way out of this situation is simply for me to pick up the piece of trash and be on my way. The results of this interaction are that a piece of garbage got thrown away, but I also have less respect for police officers and a negative emotional gain.

Case 2 – Now I am walking down the same street and I see an ugly piece of trash that I decide to pick up and throw away because I don’t like it. I act in an entirely selfish manner and throw it away. The results of this interaction are that the same piece of trash got thrown away and I gained some enjoyment out of getting rid of something that I don’t like.

The first case gave me a negative emotional gain because I was doing an act for someone else. It wouldn’t have changed if I replaced the police officer with a parent, a stranger, God, a sense of duty, or anything that wasn’t ME.

The second case gave me a positive emotional gain because I was doing something that I wanted to do. I was acting entirely selfish and reaped the benefits. Because I decide to live my life this way I only have positive emotional gains in anything that I do. This does not mean that I am an over joyous person that is brimming with peppyness. It just means that I enjoy everything that I do. My relationships with my friends and family are much stronger now because I am not obligated by anyone to spend time with them, but I choose to voluntarily because I value them. Being selfish doesn’t mean that I am cold-hearted; it means that I am purely warm hearted to those that I value. I am not an emotionless person; I have “clean” (as a good friend put it) emotions towards those that I love. This is much more than any sense of debt or gratitude could elicit from someone.

In return from these relationships (especially the objectivist ones) I know that this person values me and my friendship, otherwise they wouldn’t spend time with me. This is a win-win situation that leads to good feelings all around.

An effect from my selfishness is that my friend base has grown considerably smaller but significantly closer and more valuable. Since I only spend time and energy with people that I gain value from, I have cut out the “slackers” who gave me no emotional gain. These were the taxing and un-fun relationships that I didn’t enjoy (these weren’t bad people, just lacking a connection).

Being selfish doesn’t mean that I don’t give back to my community or try to help other people. For the same reasons mentioned above, it means that the things that I choose to do are valuable to me and I approach them with much more enthusiasm than someone who felt that they were forced into action.

I have no problem with welfare programs as long as contributions are voluntary. When there is a police officer telling me to “pay or else”, I loose emotional gain and my life is less enjoyable. This outlook can easily translate into most interactions in your life.