Enjoyment and Selfishness

Mill talks about how you can’t just worry about yourself you have to also care for others in order to be completely satisfied with life.  “When people who are tolerably fortunate in their outward lot do not find in life sufficient enjoyment to make it valuable to them, the cause generally is, caring for nobody but themselves.”  People that only care for themselves can be just as happy as the people who help and care for others.  Sometimes selfish people can even be happier.  If you are selfish you don’t have to constantly worry about others which can cause you to have less stress.  Even though people who help out others can be completely satisfied with their lives they may also be putting themselves in danger.  The people who are helping West Africa with their Ebola outbreak are putting themselves in a lot of danger.  Some of them have gotten the virus and now have a high chance of dying.  Are they still satisfied with what they did?  They are probably regretting it and are very scared, which means they are not happy and probably wish they had been selfish.  People who care for others are always putting themselves in a position in which they can get hurt.  So is it really better to care for someone else?  If you only care for yourself you are less likely to be disappointed in what you have done for someone else and regret doing it.  You can even be hurt by someone one close to you that you have helped, such as a good friend, a significant other, or even someone in your family.  If you only worry and care about yourself you are less likely to be hurt and disappointed.  If there is less pain in your life you would be much happier and more satisfied with how your life is going.