On how Objectivists aren't self-absorbed egomaniacs

First, I'll disclaim by saying this post is off-topic...at best, it's super-tangentially related to health, since it's not about running marathons, but about volunteering for them. But I'd like to speak up against one of the most common misconceptions about Objectivists -- that being selfish means being a self-absorbed, insufferable twit who thinks only of oneself.

Not true. In fact, the self-absorbed jerk who tramples over other people is not the least rationally selfish. He's not considering that other people can be a huge value -- and that other people are not required to serve his interests, so if he wants to gain values from other people, he needs to offer value in return.

What, though, about volunteering? On the surface, volunteering looks like it has no clear selfish benefit. If, say, I hammer some nails for Habitat for Humanity, I'll likely never meet the family that moves into the house I helped build; I stand no chance of gaining a value from them. Altruists would say that that doesn't matter; I ought to volunteer, if not for Habitat, for some other charity, out of duty to other people. Most altruists I know would consider volunteering just about as foreign an activity to Objectivists as possible; why would we want to give?

As a matter of fact, I don't want to give when I receive no or little value in return -- and that's why I won't be volunteering for Habitat or a soup kitchen any time soon. I will, however, be volunteering in the 2010 New York City Marathon, handing water to thirsty runners.

Why am I doing this? Out of the forty thousand runners racing this year, I'll know just one, and I'm not likely to see her as the flood of people passes by the water station. What value am I getting out of helping this sea of strangers?

Well, you see, I'm a marathon runner, too. (My race this year is Chicago, so I'll be free to dish out the H20 in Gotham.) In three marathons, plus half-marathons and innumerable shorter races, I have depended on the kindness of volunteers who were strangers to me. Those people ushered me to start lines, kept me hydrated and fed, handed me medals at finish lines, were around to provide medical aid in case of an emergency.

I, selfishly, want to live in a world in which volunteers continue to support races. If all those who helped at races were paid, the price of entry would be prohibitively expensive. And if I want to live in the kind of world in which volunteers help runners, I need to help create that world -- by helping other runners myself. Besides, as a runner, I'm predisposed to be benevolent to other runners. It makes me happy to help them out. Thus, volunteering is not something I do out of duty to others, but out of selfish pleasure and a genuine desire to do for other runners what others have done for me.