Is investing in your interest selfish?

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The other day I spotted rare birds, but all I have is a cell phone camera... Bad pictures from that thing to the point where people on FB couldn't tell what they were and my record didn't get accepted.... So I want to buy a super zoom camera I can get on some websites for a little over 100 dollars... But with that money I could buy other things (I do have enough to pay rent/bills, I'm talking about spending from what's left over)

But now I feel like I'm being selfish or something... I mean the camera is just for my interest and nothing else, is this legitimate???

Quite legitimate.

Go for it!

My goodness yes!! !! !

We all need the occasional harmless self-indulgence, go get your camera and enjoy photography birds and sharing the pictures.

(I spent £200 on a guitar two days after my father in law died, not an issue, these things are fine in moderation)

Selfishness is perfectly natural. It's your interest, your money, your time, et cetera.

And there is an amount of selfishness that is perfectly healthy and morally right. What you describe fits within it.

@ Angnix: Please don't let anyone "guilt trip" or shame you into believing otherwise.

I don't think that's selfish at all! It's okay I think to spend money on things that make you happy, including things related to your special interests. As long as you have money for your necessary expenses (which you said you do), I think buying something fun like a camera is great and you will have a lot of fun with it

Investing in your good mood - as long as not at expense of others - is beneficial for your environment. Dealing with a happy person is much more pleasurable than dealing with a frustrated person.
Both first and second person experience of the above.

I remember when, as a child, any time I would spend my own money on myself, someone -- usually an adult -- would try to make me feel guilty for not spending my own money on others. Asking them "Like a Socialist?" either shut them up or caused them to become angry with me for having a "smart mouth" and "talking back".

Later I heard some labor unions claiming that "Profit is Theft" -- that whatever profit the owners of a company received was "stolen" from the workers, who had contracted for a specific wage and wage-scale from the owners, yet they wanted more than what they had agreed on as their "fair share" (I grew up in an area dominated by labor unions).

Now I wonder if those adults from my childhood were just looking to "guilt-trip" me into giving them some of my money, either directly or as a "gift" -- if I didn't "share the wealth", then I was depriving others of their "fair share".

Bollocks.

I don't even understand the question.

Its like saying "if I spend my money on food and rent am I being selfish?".

The answer to THAT question is obviously "yes, in a sense" because avoiding eviction and having power turned off is in one's own self interest.

And spending it on a camera would also being selfish. So it's one selfish end vs another selfish end. So it cancels out, and so it's really a question of budgeting and not of selfishness. Whether you can afford it. Or not. If you can then go for it. That's what money is for.

If you had a baby to support, and it were this camera vs feeding the baby then yes, that would effect someone else's welfare, and it would be a question of selfishness- that is - if you could only afford one thing or the other.

You might look at craigslist, or your local thrift shop. Sometimes you can get really nice stuff there pretty cheap.
I don't think investing in your interest is selfish.

Not in a bad way as long as you can pay all your necessary bills. And since you can, go for it. An enjoyable hobby is good for your mental health.

People may enjoy the photos you produce, how is that selfish?

Yay! Found a really good deal on one on FB marketplace near me!! ! I'm arranging now to get it on Friday!! !

Excellent!