There are two things which the progressive-socialist-communist mind-set seems to confuse: Self-interest and selfishness. It almost always labors under the mistaken idea that these two things are congruent. And its greater error is to hold that capitalism is a selfish system whereas socialism and communism are immune to this.
Selfishness, greed and envy are always condemned in the Bible. Self-interest, on the other hand, is understood as a natural and good quality. Both the “Golden Rule,” and the insistence that we must “love our neighbor as we love ourselves,” imply the principle of self-interest.
If one does not love oneself, then the command to love your neighbor as yourself would be meaningless gibberish. Certainly, we are to love ourselves and to seek our own welfare and preservation. The Apostle Paul even states as an axiom: “No one ever hated his own body” (Ephesians 5:29).
This brings us back to the consideration of self-interest. I believe that self-interest is not only my desire to protect myself and to seek my own welfare, but also extends to the same interests for those near and dear to me: My family.
Selfishness, on the other hand, implies that I am greedy and envious. I want things for myself only, without any consideration of how others are affected. By the way, this is a trait common to humans, and is not limited to any political system.
Riley T. Jay
Seneca
