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The comment I was replying to mentioned it being noble for a woman to starve herself to give $25 to a stranger.

I disagree, and I pointed out the contradiction of praising sacrifice while disparaging self-interest, when the two are not possible without each other. If you disagree with that, I would be interested in hearing why.

Trades are not all selfish.

I never made the point that trades are inherently selfish, only that in some trades monetary gain is not the only form of currency.

Are all rational actions selfish?

Yes. You state in your second paragraph that "Every rational choice is made based on some personal values". I agree. If you act on your own personal values, this is selfish. And as all rational choice must be in service of personal values, then all rational action is selfish.

I'm very open to the idea that I'm wrong on all of this, but I can not see how, so I thank you for engaging with my comment.




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