Alternative Words For Rand's "Selfish"

Welcome to Ayn Rand day at the PL studios. It's a tradition from back in the day when callers wanted to change topics (whatever they were) to Rand. The best Rand Day was when we had the head of the The Objectivist Inst. on discussing Rand with absolutely no depth and the callers got distracted and rambled about her smoking.

Rand was asked once why she chose to use the word "selfish," to which she responded, "for the reasons that scare you." I have no idea what that means, but I don't hate the idea of using substitute words in this case. The advantage is that they mean the same thing (or more) and don't have the unfair baggage. It may also have been that she was stubborn for this reason - that she was fighting another battle entirely, she was also, like Nietzsche, exposing the manipulative effects of the "language game."

Self Focus is my favorite option. It clearly shows a condition, perhaps temporary, in which one places an emphasis on self, and perhaps on survival. It almost sounds educational, like self-improvement. To my knowledge none of the sects of language police are against this.

Self Interest comes in a little more negatively. It is actually the choice for academic philosophers. In our department those sympathetic to Rand (really?) "rebranded" her mission as "rational self interest." It was a wholesale disguise because they intended to keep her meaning but escape, as much as possible, the perception - the connection to all out selfishness.

Priority On Self actually does the best job of changing her phrase and enhancing her meaning. No matter how committed she was to "selfish," this phrase does a much better job of relaying her point.

Or does it?

As I write this i feel caught between the literal meaning, expressing her idea in the best way possible on the surface, and a more Nietzschean poetry of rebellion. Fighting the language police and keeping the word "selfish" despite the history and baggage does seem to e an intuitive choice that maintains, among other things, a kind of martyrdom.