The Selfish Genie

With this funny yet profound and thought-provoking essay, Mokokoma Mokhonoana scrutinizes the idea of selflessness. Don’t get him wrong. He, like most sane human beings, thinks that selflessness is a beautiful thing. Having said that, Mokokoma, unlike most sane human beings, thinks that it is humanely impossible to be selfless. As a matter of fact, he strongly believes that we human beings are inherently selfish—we always put ourselves first, even when we seemingly put others before ourselves.

Reading this essay will make you realize that there is nothing special about good people: they are just ordinary people who happen to use others through being, or pretending to be, good people.