Selfishness as a virtue

Now, this is an interesting thought, and it's thanks to Nadia that I started thinking about this. Now, my first thought was, HOW CAN SELFISHNESS BE GOOD?

And then, I began thinking. What one person considers selfish, might not be considered selfish to another. Who can tell? No one opinion explains everything.

If a hungry man comes up to a rich boy and asks for the lobster spaghetti he is holding, and instead the boy gives him a biscuit. Would that be selfish? I'm guessing many people say yes.

BUT! What if the boy had noticed some contamination in the food? And therefore had avoided giving it to the hungry man so that he wouldn't get food poisoning? Was the boy not earlier deemed as selfish? But didn't his selfishness SAVE the hungry man?

Another point. I'm sure we've all heard the stories of concentration camps and Jews in Germany during WWII. So, US military stumbles upon such a camp, and the privates start feeding them. Then, the commander tells them to stop.

First reaction, WHAT A SELFISH, STINGY old man.

However, what we consider his selfishness, was actually a virtue! If people have not eaten properly for a long time, and you suddenly give them an all you can eat, they would die! Sure, they'd be hungry if you didn't feed them much. But, that's better than being dead, right?

*Under construction, cos I really gotta go. >.<*

**I HATE THINKING IN A HURRY**