this is true on several scales: the personal, w/ direct responsibilities to individuals; the societal, w/ the obligation to give more than I take; the species, in that I won't be able to rest until mortality is solved, and most importantly, the cosmic, with the looming heat death

some might call this a narcissistic & self-centered worldview, but by structuring my priorities in this absolute way, I am better able to weigh my options & arrive at decisions I'm least likely to regret; all I do is in service of "just vibing", but in a rather convoluted way

this mindset is rooted in what I like to call positive objectivist ethics; Rand had some good ideas but went wrong in their application. the single most valuable insight of hers, IMO, was that there is no such thing as altruism; humans do everything with self-interest in mind

if instead of pretending otherwise, and telling ourselves (and others) that we are motivated by high-minded selfless considerations, we admit that, no, we are driven by enlightened self-interest, we can more honestly structure our priorities and life plans

i just wanna be left alone to do w/e I feel like, but I can't feel good about myself unless I pay my debt to family/society/the universe first, so I'll work to accrue enough resources to do so first.

i think if more of us were honest about this many conflicts could be avoided