Selfishness
To
whom it may concern or to anyone..... Actually it doesn't matter I only care
for myself. Who is the judge of selfishness? Egotistical, inconsiderate,
self-obsessed if you may, who can exactly is the Sheriff of this greedy
self-interested town? In the history and nature of mankind and even in the
animal kingdom it is inevitable that all may do certain things in order to
provide for themselves. In definition being selfish is lacking consideration
for others, or simply being concerned chiefly with one's personal profit. Does
that make their character flawed? What are the characteristics of a selfish
human being? Who is to decide what selfish is for another if one person may see
it as their personal incentive to do or gain things in order to live a
comfortable life? In that sense every human being and creature on Earth is
selfish for doing things that they like or accomplishing things that they want.
Some of the most successful people of all time were thought of as Selfish, and
overly ambitious, but if it were not for the desire and dedication to get to a
higher standard of living the world would be deprived of the great things that
we have today. I as well as many other people won't apologize for actions taken
to better my life and create something for myself. If I cannot accomplish my
goals or be able to do things on my own no one else will do it for me, to
reiterate, if I am going to do something for the betterment of my life than it
is in my personal incentive. If it were up to my brother he'd eat enough food
for the whole population of Kansas, but am I "allowed" call him
selfish for his choices? I find my self questioning the intentions of people
all the time, calling their behavior selfish and rude but I tend to do the same
things exactly for my personal benefit . It's never taken into account that the
perspective of others is often different than my own or people worldwide. If we
cannot place ourselves In every single perspective at a given time we should
not judge because we do not have the mindset to do so. Sure that may take away
many opinionated voices but if biased opinions are made without perspective and
correct understand who are we to say what is right or wrong for another. I'll
even throw in the cliché "You can't really understand another person's
experience until you've walked a mile in their shoes" I can't judge
my brother's over indulgence in my food or others choices in their life,
neither should they judge my life choices. If I want to have my cake and eat it
too do I have to share? I cannot change others ideals especially of it's
set in stone, it's hard to change my own. Whatever though after all of this
it's still my world you all just live in it.
"To whom it may concern or to anyone..... Actually it doesn't matter I only care for myself." dude, that first sentance got me though. This was awesome, Nia. :) I definitely agree with this so much.
ReplyDeleteYou make a perfectly good point everyone is so quick to judge one another and then we turn around and do the same thing. And by the way I love that last line "Whatever though after all of this it's still my world you all just live in it." Great job Nia!
ReplyDeleteVery intresting take. I foundmy self rereading over it to make sure I absorbed it all. I agree that in a sense we are all selfish people, but there is a line to be drawn between people who intentionally hurt people in attempt to satisfy their needs and people who are simply tryig to make it through this crazy life. wel thought out peice, and great example throwing your brother in. Ha hopefully hes not angry with you for putting him your esssay to satisfy your desire to earn an A because that would be the ultimate irony! Well great job!;D
ReplyDeleteThat last sentence was amazing. It brought your theme of selfishness together and it was very well written :)
ReplyDeleteYour first sentence was an amazing attention grabber, it was like WHOA WHAT?? Then constantly making me question myself and others, great job.
ReplyDeletedang, Nia. a rather daring piece aha. I gotta agree with Elizabeth here on the fine line between intentional harm, and those just gettin caught in the cross hairs of our goals-also, real quick your name on here cracks me up "exuberant elizabeth", i mean the alliteration alone hahahahhahahaha-okay sorry. Maybe you could do a continuation of this piece with that line,and examples of crossing it. There are so many questions surrounding "selfish" and you inquired of many in this piece but the definition remains ambiguous. Dependent largely on the judge. I admire your self assurance, and confidence. Thank you for sharing:)
ReplyDeleteNiaaaaaa! I loved thissss! from your first grabbing sentence to the perfect closer, you had me sucked in. you'd be really good at debating because i found myself nodding and agreeing throughout the piece! I also really loved your line "if i want to have my cake and eat it too, do i have to share?" I completely agree! awesome piece :)
ReplyDeleteThis is great Nia! We are all human beings and we are all not prefect we just tend to be selfish in no circumstances and its a natural thing. I really like this part "If we cannot place ourselves In every single perspective at a given time we should not judge because we do not have the mindset to do so" We can never judge the cover of a book, because that turns into a different level in society. I love your abstract idea !
ReplyDeleteThe way the last sentence brought the whole concept of selfishness together was excellent!
ReplyDeleteHAHAH the first sentence.. So true! There's so many people in this world that you just described perfectly & it's so sad. Great job!
ReplyDelete"You can't really understand another person's experience until you've walked a mile in their shoes" I really like this quote and love how well you fit it into your whole story. Good job Nia :)
ReplyDeleteI really agree with the labeling of "Abstract Idea". The rules for either being selfish or just trying to be great is unclear. Great choice of topic! These kinds of concepts can be really criticized by other intellectuals like you.
ReplyDeleteI'm really digging the concept of your story, It really provoked me to think about whether my actions are selfish or just the self improvement. Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteYesssss. I absolutely love your take on selfishness. Everything you stated was undoubtedly true; just brought up a different perspective. I love your example of selfishness that had to do with your brother eating enough for Kansas. Super funny!
ReplyDeleteI liked your abstract idea, it really made me think. This reminds of what a teacher once said about fending for yourself because no one else will look out for you. I liked how in your work you showed a balance between being selfish and looking out for yourself. Great job!
ReplyDeleteNia you did a good job bestfriend :) I love it
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you decided to write your blog submission on this. It helps put everyone into perspective on both sides of the argument of being selfish. You started writing this with a bold sentence, and concluded with another to really make it come full circle.
ReplyDeleteI really like the first statement. "To whom it may concern" I was like "Does this concern me?" and then I was like "It could concern me." I like it! Good job!
ReplyDeleteThe first sentence for a book or an article has to grab my attention, and this did exactly that. Also the last sentence brought everything together and concluded your piece. Fantastic:)
ReplyDeleteI love how it made you think the first sentence was an attention getter aha I also liked how the words jumped off the page I could so see you reading this aloud(:
ReplyDeleteThis was great, the way you got all of our attention with the first part, and then went all the way through explaining it from your point of view.
ReplyDeleteyour viewpoint on selfishness was interesting making it easy to read. Great Job!
ReplyDeletebruh. im feelin this, selfishness is bad at times but thats how you get to the top and win, i love being selfish man good stuff
ReplyDeletei agree with your views of selfishness and how people shouldnt judge but hey thats our world, and if its not benefiting them its not benefiting anymore (in their eyes). All that matters is that if it makes you happy you dont have to listen to what other people think.
ReplyDeleteI definitely loved your tone throughout the piece. It really wrapped up everything that you were saying and the tone was just perfect for this "selfish" submission! I loved it
ReplyDeleteThis really grabbed my attention at the beginning Nia. Though I must say, I lost my own train of thought wandering through your inclusive view on selfishness. Everybody tends to be selfish at some point in their lives, but, you know, that's just a part of life that happens to all of us.
ReplyDeleteI laughed at your opening sentence for literally like 5 minutes! I love it!
ReplyDeleteGirl I love your gusto ....and I like that you are saying you want to be selfish in that you are looking out for yourself, but I think that we as humans should be looking out for each other too and if everyone is looking out for one another no one will get left behind :)
ReplyDelete"If I cannot accomplish my goals or be able to do things on my own no one else will do it for me" This is so true and I love it. It really made me think about my actions and whether the things I do are selfish or me protecting myself to be successful for the future. Very well written! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat diction and interesting topic. I enjoyed your view on selfishness, a subject I never really think about. But yeah, now I'm thinking about it....
ReplyDeletei enjoyed this piece in its entirety and found it to be extremely thought provoking. however there where some parts of the piece where the wording was awkward and lacked viscosity.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you started and ended your piece and your story really got me thinking about my own actions!
ReplyDeleteVery good opening. Really makes people think about what selfishness really is. Great job!
ReplyDeletewow this was intense stuff , a real eye opener, great job
ReplyDeleteSelfishness is something we disdain in others yet personally we demonstrate the same trait ourselves because its so natural sometimes. Your frustration over where our borders lie--whether selfishness is necessary for our own gain or if it blunders with indulgence is understandable.
ReplyDeleteVery great piece. This really digs deep on how how people are so quick to judge each other. Your style of writing is superb!
ReplyDeleteIts such a different topic to think about. Who can really determine what selfishness is. it was attention grabbing from the beginning and the entire passage holds it.
ReplyDeleteWow! That was kind of a reality check for me. Sometimes you need to just step back and look at things from another person's point of view.
ReplyDeleteI liked the fact that you chose to do this topic. I'll agree with some others above, that this was daring to write about because normally being called selfish is an insult. It's true, at the end of the day, you have to remind yourself you're an individual and you have to make decisions that will benefit you more than others, even if those decisions will be labeled as "selfishness". Good job!
ReplyDeleteGreat subject, I think everyone struggles with selfishness in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteYou price was a great reflection into our perspective of selfishness. You clearly identified what selfishness has come to be and it is true that we are always and we will be selfish in nature weather it is intentional or not we just are to some degree unintentionaly we do good deeds because they make us feel good and that is selfishness. Have you ever seen of a selfless good deed. No because we are always looking to contemplate our needs. I think you did a great job and nailed it.
ReplyDeleteThis was very good. I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDelete-Garrett Lachase