The discourse of self-interest forces even altruistic citizens to describe themselves as selfish

Evidence

Members thought that not only did they have to appeal to others’ self-interest, but that they themselves must really be self-interested. They were resigned to the fact; it was considered common sense, and they sometimes even scrounged for self-interested sounding explanations of their own involvement. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1361

Categorization

• SEED: Essay angle: how ‘everyone is selfish’ functions as a self-fulfilling civic grammar that erodes the very solidarity it claims to describe.
• XREF: connects to: Disguised self-interest can be the sole refuge of democratic hope — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”: The work of avoiding…, 174; Impersonal factual and personal self-interest talk are two sides of the same anti-political coin — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1502; Self-interest framing makes citizens appear as undebatable as corporations — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1344 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Moral discourse begins from individual interests, then asks after equal interests #complicates (0.85) — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 72
• Self-interest is redefined by whatever level the collective self-categorisation occupies #expands (0.78) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 50
• Modern avarice consists of stinginess toward others masked as rational self-interest #complicates (0.75)