Corporate vs. Nonprofit Tradeoff

I've been wondering lately if it's legitimate to believe that corporate work is undertaken for your future well-being while nonprofit work is undertaken for other people's well-beings. Is it fair to categorize them that way?

Private sector work is so focused on growth and expansion and getting bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter that sometimes it seems like they have lost perspective on most social issues. But public sector work can be so tedious and slow, as bureaucracy severely hinders speed of execution and ease of tangible results.

Here's how I see it: People working for big corporations often have profit or promotion incentives, and thus work more hours with gritty determination, and in doing so earn more money, but also cut down on leisure time and a kind of direction or meaning in their lives. Nonprofit and government sector workers do not make as much money as private sector workers, but have an easier time separating work from play, and generally have some sort of social aim. This a huge simplification, but let's just say it's the truth because simplification is nice sometimes.

But getting back to it, there's been this nagging quandary in the back of my mind lately. It basically reads: "Is it selfish to want to work in the private sector and make more money as opposed to working in the nonprofit sector for less money, but with a positive societal contribution and a chance for self-satisfaction?" Do I want to live for myself or for others in the US or in the world who are worse off than myself?

It's a difficult decision, because on one hand money is everything, but on the other hand, it would probably get old after a while. Isn't it easier sometimes just to use what you've got instead of lusting after the next best thing? If this were the case, it would seem safe to say that I should work in the public sector against something I despise in a manner that I enjoy. But I've also been infused with a competitive instinct that leads me to want to be better, work harder and have a higher number (meaning yearly salary, and ensure people know it with accompanying material wealth) than the next person. That's a hard urge to curb.

In the end, Third Eye Blind said it nicest: "How's it gonna be?"