Regarding the recent discussion about Rand trying to "re-define"
selfishness, I can definitely see where she was coming from.

Regardless of the historical origins of the word, it does not make
sense that a word with the root "self" and the suffix "ish" (relating
to, of, characteristic of) should be used to represent a person that
seeks the unearned, that wishes to sacrifice others, and that is not
willing to respect the rights of others to be ends in themselves. In
fact the essence of the popular meaning of "selfishness" really has
nothing to do with a concern for the self, but relates to the way in
which others are treated.

Regardless of the fact that there ARE alternatives such as "self-
interested", to depict rationally selfish people, I see no problem
with and even applaud Ayn Rand for refusing to use "selfish" to
indicated irrational selfishness. What are we saying as a culture
about self when we assign such a definition to "selfish". It is my
judgment that we are making the task of honoring the self infinitely
more difficult with such a definition.

Perhaps we should be using words such as: parasitic, deleterious,
thoughtless, etc...

Michael Grierson