I hope you guys are aware that Maslow's original write up of the 5th stage: Self-fulfillment
Is impossible in it of itself.
Though other people's attempts to rectify it does make a lot of sense. Basically with all your needs fulfilled you are now free to openly improve upon yourself.
Yes but the individual that strives for self-fulfillment is better than the one that rejects it. :-)
someone that, for example, will knowingly and willingly speed on some roads. They do not attempt to justify their actions with 'its not hurting anyone' or some other such blabber to make it
right. They openly and fully admit fault and understand why (maybe not to a cop, but to themselves). That is a step towards self actualization. They have not fully reached the point of utter respect (for the law, for example), but at least they are accepting and acknowledging their actions as
wrong. So no, they am not a 5, they are a 4 (in this fictional case),
but are open to advancement. They have achieved the self esteem and self respect to understand and admit they are wrong. Sure, they may not act differently, but they know the truth. THats how they got to level 4 in the first place.
As Captain Hat says:
You can't justify piracy, it's illegal and there's no ethical or political way to say otherwise until you change what is classified as piracy.
So these individuals attempting to do just that: '
justify it', are inherently
wrong on every level whether they like it or not. If they would only admit that, and realize they are
wrong then they would be open to advancing their self character. But the single fact that they refuse to admit it, shows that they cannot climb maslow's ladder. They are stuck acting like 5 year olds and dogs on level 2 or 3.