"Not for personal gain, but just to fulfill the will of a sick wife" - remember this phrase of Father Fyodor from the immortal works of Ilf and Petrov "Twelve Chairs"? a rather strange for us manner of speech, right? But even less clear is the word "greed", from the above phrase we can conclude that this concept has a negative connotation. But is this always the case?
What does "self-interest" mean?
The word greed has more than one meaning, it is interesting that the original meaning of the word was somewhat different than it is today. So, earlier the word self-interest meant only profit, profit or favor. Negative value was in the words of self-interest or self-interest, which implied an exceptional desire to extract from everything for themselves a benefit, and unwillingness to strike a finger on the finger, if it does not promise profits, even if it is minimal. Therefore, when the phrase "not self-interest for the sake of, but only ..." is found in the epics, it means only that the person does not seek profit for himself, and not the attempt of an evil and bad man to look better in the eyes of others.
Today, the concept of self-interest has only a negative connotation, having the value of a defect that needs to be eradicated. Also this concept is used in the criminal law, being the motive of the crime.
The problem of self-interest
Needless to say, the problem of self-interest in the modern world is quite acute. Transfers and reports about celebrities instill every third dream of a beautiful life. We already have a stereotype that wealth is the only way to happiness, we tend to consider abnormal those who gravitate toward simple life and do not rush to the top of the food pyramid. Hence the desire to earn as much as possible, money is already becoming the goal of life. And this leads to attempts to squeeze benefits out of any situations, without being embarrassed by moral principles and values. Moreover, in today's society, an image is of utmost importance, for the sake of maintaining it, people are often ready to commit criminal acts. And to be a good Samaritan now unfashionably, in honor charming egoists, keen on a lust for profit.
But greed can take more ugly forms. How often do we see people representing huge industrial corporations engaged in charity, giving money to save animals, in support of children's hospitals, etc. Ask what's wrong here? Nothing, except that all this is done for mercenary purposes, well, hypocrisy, of course. It is much easier to give a small part of the profit to the "green" or medical institutions than to invest impressive funds to improve production, so that the problems of ecology and diseases caused by a terrible level of environmental pollution do not arise. But many see only the external side of the issue, and such companies and people are called benefactors, not creatures, disgusting in their lucre.
Also, we must not forget that this vice often pushes people to commit crimes. But it is worthwhile to distinguish between the greed of the poor and the greed of the rich, as Aristotle said. The former aspire to excess, and the latter only want to satisfy their elementary needs. Paradoxical is the fact that the state pays more attention to crimes committed by the poor, not by the rich, who
But, like any phenomenon, there is another side to self-interest. Above is described what happens when a person is obedient to it, but you can put self-interest in your service. Kindness and unselfishness are excellent qualities, but there are too many people in the world who want to take advantage of this. Show self-interest to those who "sit down on the neck" (for example, to the chief who dumps tons of work for you and refuses to raise his salary for the third year) is not at all sinful, substituting cheeks for the pro boxer's hacks over and over again is silly.