Clear & precise definitions are important:
- Greed - a desire for things unearned w no regard for costs or those bearing said costs
- Envy - resentment as a result of what someone else has
- Jealousy - resentment as a result of insecurity about what belongs to you
- Self interest - an internal drive, foundational to the existence of all life, that motivates a being to improve their situation.
Someone who is rationally self interested understands that indulging in some greedy whim would be a self destructive thing to do. Feelings of envy & jealousy are also self destructive & as a result incompatible with self interest. Acting in your own self interest means doing what serves you based on all of your best knowledge. It does not exclude the knowledge that cheating people damages your self image, or that your lies may haunt you.
Doing what is in your own self interest does not separate what is good for you in a material fashion from what is good for you emotionally or spiritually. People who separate these things are often denying their own self interest (with a myriad of justifications) to feed some greedy desire for a fraudulent sense of social status or some material benefit at the expense of what they actually know to be right or good for themselves in a broader sense.
We are natural traders & social beings. Doing what is good for yourself (all things considered) usually consists of doing good things & creating value for others.
