More like, when it wouldn't make his life harder, then he would act good. A lot of people are in theory not against preserving the enviroment, but when it means that they need to stop driving a car or have to drive to an organic food store two hours away instead of going to the store in the next street, they prefer the "unsavory" alternatives. The trick with Jayne is to appeal to his selfish nature and to show him how that extra work pays off. But ultimately I think he is the least prejudiced character on the show, as baffling as it sounds. Book has certain views of sex work, Simon and Mal have opinions and views of what other people should be in heaps, Kaylee expects Simon to conform to her idealisation of him, Inara expects Mal to do better than petty theft... But Jayne takes other people as they are, whithout negotiating their status in a hierarchy. He gets, that whether a whore, a merc, a little crime lord or a cargo hauler - everyone has to make a living somehow, and few can afford not to work a hard, demeaning job. There is no need to make it even harder, if it doesn't benefit you.

Huh, I thought it was meant in the way like taking advantage of a technological gizmo. I mean, I have bought a phone with all the shiny new hijinks, and I like to show it off. ("Look! It plays music! And it has a calender, and can remind me of appointment! And I can take your picture and make it an avatar in the contact list! Ohh, have you seen the games on it? Did you know, it links to my wireless LAN at home, so I can surf the internet, too?") I take advantage of all the things it can do. When I go to a cosmetologist I take advantage of her skills, I want to have a certain spectrum of things done, and done properly, so I get my moneys worth. The expression sounds clumsy in regards to a person, I'll give you that, esp in this line of work, but I never thought Inara would have insulted her friend like that, no matter what.