The bad news is that all of us are selfish to a certain extent. Humans are kind of jerks. The good news is that I wasn't really talking about that.

I'd say all of what you said counts as selfish. Here are some selfish things I do--I don't like to go out of my way to do things around the house, even though I know it puts additional stress on the people I live with. I'm habitually late. I occasionally pirate software and music, and often don't donate to the artists whose works I've downloaded. And I would perform unspeakable tortures on a cow if I needed to in order to get my meat fix.

I think acknowledging that these things are flaws is a very good thing. The sort of people I really have problems with are people like Objectivists, who preach "enlightened self-interest" as a virtue and scorn people who help others with no thought of reward. That's not you. I'm talking more about people who praise selfishness, not people who suffer from it now and again.


(By the way, there are a bunch of awesome charities and organizations that you can give your money to. It doesn't have to be a hole you throw your money in. Are you familiar with microfinance? You can loan money to the poor through organizations like Kiva.org, which helps people and communities throughout the globe get out of poverty. It's a pretty incredible thing--you should check it out!)