I've been reading this discussion with great interest, but haven't had anything to contribute until now. I guess I let the ideas "percolate" until all of this sort of "distilled out" and became evident to me:
In this collectivist/socialist/controlled society, we are taught from the time we are VERY young that it is BAD to be more than just superficially concerned with ourselves and our own needs. We are taught that altruism (living for the benefit of others) is the highest ideal to which a human being can aspire, and that "pride", "selfishness" and "ego" are negative things that should be avoided. As I stated in my previous post, this type of indoctrination is highly treasured by TPTB, they WANT a population stripped of their sense of self, because such a population is EASY to manipulate through guilt, appealing to "communal" instincts, and taking advantage of charitable urges.
I am an egoist. I am unashamed and proudly proclaim it... because I ALSO have quite a bit of pride. I see pride as a virtue (when earned through proper action, not fantasies of greatness) and something that builds a person up, not a vice. I have a very strong sense of who I am, what I have accomplished in my life, and what my values, needs, and strengths are. Does this mean that I'm the kind of guy who cuts people off on the highway, jumps ahead of everyone in lines, and would claw my way to the top of a bloody hill of corpses to sieze power and be worshipped? Of COURSE NOT! Those are the marks of a diseased mind, the actions of a SELF-AGGRANDIZING individual - someone who has increased their own sense of who they are beyond what has been established by the facts of their existence and actions. I think that due to this society's social programming, the actions and nature of this type of person is OFTEN confused with "ego", even though the connection is superficial. Ego is the sense of self, a person's concept of who and what they are. Nothing more, nothing less.
I like who I am. I am proud of the things I've accomplished in my life. This is NOT a bad thing. Now all the metaphysicists will pile in (as programmed to do...) and tell me how I'm an insignificant speck of dust in a vast whirling universe beyond comprehension, and that my existence is short and unmemorable in the "big" scheme of things, blah blah blah. I reply SO FUCKING WHAT? I'm not running for the position of God, I have no illusions about my existence and what it represents in the big scheme of things! I live a harmless life, I treat other people the way I would like to be (though rarely am...) treated myself. I've contributed SOMETHING to the lives of the people I've come across in this brief life, and created an existence for myself that is comfortable and interesting without using the expedients of fraud and coercion. In the "big picture" or "long run" or whatever you want to call it, isn't that the only thing that's truly worth striving for anyway?
Too much confusion of terms when people talk about these concepts... by deliberate design, I'm sure.
