History Main / EnlightenedSelfInterest

* In the AlternateHistory of ''Series/QueenCharlotteABridgertonStory'', Princess Augusta singlehandedly desegregates the high society of Georgian England...not because she cares about racial equality, but because it will allow the crown to save face after George marries a woman they didn't realize was half-Black.

* In ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'', Tatsuya gives Masaki (a piece of the) weaponry that could effortlessly make him [[OneManArmy a war hero]]. Tatsuya does this because- aside from their country being in danger on multiple fronts- he is currently the target of a media swarm that makes it impossible for him and his fiancee to leave the house. Masaki's new status as a celebrity- which he minds much less than Tatsuya did- diverts the journalists' interest.
* In ''LightNovel/TheWorldsFinestAssassin'', the titular aristocratic assassin Lugh Tuatha Dé is [[NiceToTheWaiter kind and helpful to the villagers working his family lands]] and goes out of his way to rescue and train the orphans Tarte and Maha, who were doomed to short, miserable lives full of suffering before Lugh intervened. He does this not out of altruism, but because he's building a resource base and recruiting talented, loyal pawns for his work. Despite his self-interested goals, however, the fact that he's objectively improving the lives of the people he interacts with still puts him morally head and shoulders above the corrupt nobles that are his most common targets.

* ''LightNovel/TheGeniusPrincesGuideToRaisingANationOutOfDebtHeyHowAboutTreason'': Prince Wein is the acting regent of the impoverished kingdom of Natra and his soldiers are technically loyal to his father and the country rather than himself, so he has to be a [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure benevolent ruler]] if he wants to avoid a coup and slowly gain their loyalty. He plans to use their eventual loyalty to convince them to allow the Earthworld Empire to annex Natra, allowing him to retire. He also has to choose the most diplomatic means of solving problems because using too much military force will send his country's budget into the red.

BreadAndCircuses is this trope applied to TheEmpire's management of its own populace, treating them well so they won't rebel. A HegemonicEmpire may be formed through a nation practicing this trope.

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheWhiteSun'' pits you as [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors a Chinese warlord in the 1920s]]. All the social reforms, curbing of corruption, fighting bandits, setting up schools, even ''propping up a banking system''... are done for the sake of firmly staying in power in the area you control and having an easier time getting loyal, well-armed soldiers for your personal armies, to further strengthen your rule. The game doesn't even try to hide it, stating in various event and info blurbs the cynical reasons for which various things are done or how your regime is twisting them for its own needs.

* Basically every ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game ever has Link doing sidequests for people and being rewarded with Heart Containers or other useful items. Taken even further in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', where doing these quests results in their gratitude crystallizing, and taking these physical emotions to a [[ForcedTransformation demonic-looking man]] under the city dispels his curse (and he rewards you with larger wallets).
* In ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', Chancellor J'mpok's motivation for throwing the Klingon Empire's support behind D'Tan's Romulan Republic is that it's a way to conquer one of the Empire's bitterest foes, the Romulans, without firing a shot: they get the Republic as allies and hurt the still-hostile Romulan Star Empire.

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' has [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Renata Glasc, the Chem-Baroness]], who effectively controls the city of Zaun via her corporate stranglehold on its various industries in concert with well-calculated acts of charity. Years ago, Zaun was caught up in a massive chemical disaster, and Glasc Industries took the opportunity to distribute free breathers to help the population recover, [[VillainWithGoodPublicity skyrocketing their reputation as a reliable source of quality]] while feeding Renata's endless hunger for power and wealth.

* ''Sereis/{{Jeremiah}}: Eddie from "To Sail Beyond the Stars" is an ally of the Thunder Mountain scouts who specializes in gathering information that he passes on to other people who will pay for it or share his goals of seeing civilization restored (which will give him a place to spend]all of the [[WorthlessYellowRocks money he's been accumulating]]).

* ''LightNovel/TheGeniusPrincesGuideToRaisingANationOutOfDebtHeyHowAboutTreason'': Prince Wein is the acting regent of the impoverished kingdom of Natra and his soldiers are technically loyal to his father and the country rather than himself, so he has to be a [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure benevolent ruler]] if he wants to avoid a coup and slowly gain their loyalty. He plans to use their eventual loyalty to convince them to allow the Earthworld Empire to annex Natra, allowing him to retire. He also has to choose the most diplomatic means of solving problems because using too much military force will send his country's budget into the red.

* In ''Videogame/TheOuterWorlds'', Sanjar Nandi is a rare example of an HonestCorporateExecutive in a setting where almost every corporate higher-up is either [[CorruptedCorporateExecutive corrupt]], [[PointyHairedBoss incompetent]] or a combination of both. His corporation espouses such values as worker's rights and not putting profits over lives, with Sanjar noting that not only are happy and healthy workers more productive, his employees also happen to be his customers so it's in his best interest to keep them happy.

* In ''Videogame/TheOuterWorlds'', Sanjar Nandi is a rare example of an HonestCorporateExecutive in a setting where almost every corporate higher-up is either corrupt, incompetent or a combination of both. His corporation espouses such values as worker's rights and not putting profits over lives, with Sanjar noting that not only are happy and healthy workers more productive, his employees also happen to be his customers so it's in his best interest to keep them happy.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10917821/1/The-questionable-burdens-of-leadership-of-a-troll-Emperor The (Questionable) Burdens of Leadership of a Troll Emperor]]'': Xanna makes sure her citizens are healthy, happy, and prosperous because it makes her empire more prosperous. Oma Desala admits that Xanna and Naruto aren't good people, each being monstrous in their own way, but they're actions (fighting the Goa'uld, freeing slaves, uplifting civilizations) do benefit the galaxy as a whole simply because Xanna wants to create the greatest empire the universe has ever seen.

Compare TheGoldenRule, where you treat others the way you want to be treated. Contrast {{Realpolitik}}, where nations do underhanded things to serve their own self-interest. Contrast also SelflessWish and KeepTheReward, both of which involve a character doing something without seeking repayment. May overlap with PragmaticVillainy and JerkWithAHeartOfJerk in cases where the villain/jerk helps the heroes because their interests coincide with his own, or with PragmaticHero when the hero makes a decision to act heroically because it advances his interests rather than because it's "right". See also SecretlySelfish, for when an otherwise altruistic character has an unexamined (or not) selfish ulterior motive.

* Basically every ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game ever has Link doing sidequests for people and being rewarded with Heart Containers or other useful items. Taken even further in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', where doing these quests results in their gratitude crystallizing, and taking these physical emotions to a [[BalefulPolymorph demonic-looking man]] under the city dispels his curse (and he rewards you with larger wallets).

* In the {{short story}} ''Literature/AWomansWork'' by Creator/TanyaHuff, the [[EvilOverlord evil Queen Arrabel]] builds hospitals and schools for her citizens, as this makes her very popular and less likely to be assassinated. It also enables her to influence what the kids are taught, and who gets to be healed.

* An insincere example of this was Italy during the First World War, which declared neutrality at the start of the conflict. Italian Prime Minister Antonio Salandra called his policy "sacro egoismo" - "sacred self-interest." In practice, it meant seeing who would pay more to have Italy join the war on their side.
* Most of the funding for Creator/{{PBS}} and Creator/{{NPR}} actually comes from companies that make big donations to fund the networks and stations in exchange for being name-dropped on air. Likewise, ViewersLikeYou most often donate during pledge drives not just because they enjoy the programming, but because of the goodies that they get in return.
* At the outset of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, with much of Europe, especially Germany, in ruins from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, President UsefulNotes/HarryTruman enacted the Marshall Plan, tasking the United States with rebuilding western Europe. Truman's ulterior motive, of course, was that getting western Europe back on its feet would stop them from electing communist governments and/or seeking Soviet (reconstruction) aid. It's also much easier to engage in capitalist commerce when your trading partners have a functioning economy.
* [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt His predecessor]] did the same before and after the US entered UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, selling the UK war materiel, food, and other commodities at reasonable prices (or even on-loan) partly because it was profitable and helped the USA's economic recovery, partly because it saved Anglo-Saxon civilians' lives, and partly because it helped keep Hitler at bay.
* This is the gist of crowdfunding services such as Website/{{Kickstarter}}: if the product doesn't end up being VaporWare, the pledges receive some goodies as well.

* UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} is this philosophy turned UpToEleven. It posits that helping others to materially benefit yourself is the ''only'' moral way in which a selfish person can act altruistically and that helping others ''without'' materially benefitting from doing so is both objectively irrational and morally wrong for selfish people. Oddly, Objectivism -- as defined by its creator Ayn Rand -- asserts that helping others to immaterially (reputation, gratitude, etc) benefit yourself is morally wrong because your interests are not advanced in an objectively quantifiable way. Psychologists speculate that this oversight stems from Rand's reasons for developing the philosophy, namely to "rationalise"/justify her emotional desire not to be beholden to her (loving, supportive) family and her friendless background. Since her death, Objectivists have moved towards accepting immaterial versions of this trope.
* This is one of the largest motivations behind ''UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar'' as it basically motivates every side in the conflict to have specific standards and lines they won't cross in order to reduce the death and suffering of their own troops, and it only works when ''everyone'' does it. Medics are required to treat anyone with impunity, including civilians, friendly, and enemy troops, and can't fire on the enemy unless fired at first, and thus it's in everyone's best interest to not shoot them. It's illegal to [[ISurrenderSuckers feign surrender]] to get the drop on an enemy or lay a trap, so both sides have motivation to accept the surrender of enemy troops and not gun them down out of paranoia. It's illegal to shoot surrendering troops, retreating troops, or mistreat [=PWs=], so troops have motivation to retreat or surrender rather than fight to the death. The list goes on.

* In CodexAlera, this is mentioned word-for-word to be the reason why [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Invidia Aquitaine]] makes and maintains her alliance with Isana. The problem is, she's not as enlightened as she thinks she is, and tends to underestimate the intelligence of others. This causes her to betray other people on a number of occasions when she thinks it is in her self-interest to do so, only to find they've predicted it and she's just put herself in a much worse position than if she'd kept her word.

* ''Series/{{Chiefs}}'': Sonny Butts' interest capturing the pedophiliac SerialKiller who has plagued the county for decades peaks when he realizes that such a high-profile arrest might be enough to keep from being fired over the suspicious death of one of his prisoners.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' selfishness is Black's main ideological point. Quite a few characters have realised their self-interest can be best achieved with cooperation, such as Liliana Vess during her tenure in the Gatewatch or Sorin Markov in the many crises he ended up saddled with.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' selfishness is Black's main ideological point. Quite a few characters have realised their self-interest can be best achieved with cooperation, such as Liliana Vess douring her tenure in the Gatewatch or Sorin Markov in the many crisis he ended up saddled with.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicThaGathering'' selfishness is Black's main ideological point. Quite a few characters have realised their self-interest can be best achieved with cooperation, such as Liliana Vess douring her tenure in the Gatewatch or Sorin Markov in the many crisis he ended up saddled with.

->'''Londo Mollari:''' During the Shadow War, Sheridan risked his life and the lives of every human on this station to help save our worlds. Would the Gaim have done that for the pak'ma'ra? Would the Drazi have done that for the Narn? No. That sacrifice must be rewarded.\\
'''G'Kar:''' Since the war, we have begun working together as never before. In the past, we had nothing in common. But now the humans have become the glue that holds us together.\\
'''Londo:''' If Sheridan's forces are defeated, then Earth will turn in upon itself. They will become isolated, or they'll turn against the rest of us. Politically, it is very wise.\\
'''G'Kar:''' Morally, it is even wiser.\\
'''Vir Cotto:''' Politics and morality on the same side? That doesn't happen every day, Delenn.
-->-- "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS04E19BetweenTheDarknessAndTheLight Between the Darkness and the Light]]", ''Series/BabylonFive''