Think about yourself as I often do - our shared journey into activism, organizing the loved one's of drug war prisoners. The negatives attached to these words should encourage soul searching as we read them, but it's worthwhile to look at what these words really mean. Why dilute the meaning by using purifying synonyms. Power to the people. Self-interest, like power, wears the black shroud of negativism and suspicion.
Confusion arises when the synonym for self-interest is interpreted mostly as selfishness.
Thus, to have self-interest is unfairly associated in many a mind with things that are repugnant, bad, and even mean. I want to get my brother, Gary Callahan, released from sickening injustice and home from prison. Take another look, and you will see compromise to be a key word in our struggle. If it is true that we work for a free and open society, that suggests we live in a constant state of conflict, interrupted periodically by compromises. A free and open society is assumed to appreciate and embrace the word compromise.