Extreme Altruism

[stilltruckin]

Made me wonder what the world would be like if everyone, or even just a lot of people, thought this way > theguardian.com/world/2015/...

[Hidden]

Only Altruism i have seen is when it comes to pets and suffering

How bad is that for humanty

I believe in helping Well

A could not walk past - but would not be at expense of family

[medow]

Sort of speed read it, very interesting, reminds me of a friend of mine who said he would quite happily live in 2 rooms and eat rice and beans if it meant everyone in the world had 2 rooms and rice and beans to eat. So many people have far too little and are in so much need that it is painful to know this, too big. A little more sense of social responsibility and morality wouldn't go a miss xxxx

[Toci]

What a thought provoking article. Thanks st. I will ponder on it.

[jabber]

I also speed read it - some deep stuff and very thought-provoking. Not sure how I feel now. Maybe it's guilty that I couldn't be as altruistic as that couple.

[Hidden]

What a poor writer. Its like wading through treacle. Robin

[Neo7]

needed a Co-codamol trying to read it. then I thought there is a better way of spreading Treacle.

[Hidden]

Just couldn't read it.

We live and fight and die for our families.

We have enough nutter's in the world as it is.

I think I have done more than my fair share of helping people in meny parts of the world. ..

Now that I need help...I have to pay through the nose. ..so much so now I have to pay as my nose needs help to.

Have to take the children to school now and go on to the dentist.

Looking like it's going to be a nice day.

Regards

Andy.

[Kerrieblue]

I think there is a healthy balance. For many years I ran my own small animal rescue, and juggled this with family life. Many times I felt guilty that my family missed out on me, and I had to try and get the equilibrium right. If we all did a little then maybe a few would not need to do a lot?

[knitter]

Speed read it the first time, then went back and read it again.

For all her ideas of altruism, Julia seems to me a deeply unhappy person

I don't know if I would like a world of Julias

I would like to believe that everyone is of equal value and should be loved equally, and I do give to charity, and sometimes feel guilt if I buy something frivolous, but I also have a pragmatic streak.

That's what I like about this site....many of the posts get me thinking " outside the box " and it's good to read other people's views.

Thanks.

[baseman]

This is a deeply disturbing piece bordering on the psychotic. She is living in a delusional world if she thinks that by donating 50% of her income to charities that 45%-50% will actually be used to aid people! It doesn't even make her happy! More likely that any donation received by the charity a small percentage will actually get through anyway. Plus it's an American story--and very badly written, to boot! Altruism is a wonderful thing if done in the right way.

[Billiejean_2]

Like others, I found the article so long and wearisome to read that the whole thing had lost it's edge by the time I'd stumbled to the last page.

I wonder was this in any way intentional ? The exhaustion and repetition in the writing was almost a mirror image of the futility and treadmill existence of the person described.

I think this behaviour falls outside the bounds of good mental health and reflects an emotional void in the people concerned.

What Daz said touched a chord with me. I feel a bit this way about animals and cruelty to animals but have accepted that I can't do anything to change the big picture. I donate to local charities and give three animals a loving home, that's what I can do at present much and all as I would live to stop all the animal cruelty in the world. Sometimes it worries me that I worry more about animals then people but I think this is because people have a voice and some chance to change their citcumstances, whereas animals are helpless victims who have to live with cruelty until they eventually die from it.

Way too much agonising for a Wednesday morning but the topic is an excellent one for discussion and it's interesting to read everybody's views.

[stilltruckin]

hearthofmopsus.blogspot.co....

Quote:

'. . . I must say I would question the philosophical basis of this assertion [that every human being is of equal value]. For assertion it seems to be: if I think what ‘value’ I, or any other person, has, what I find is not something intrinsic, something absolute, at all, but something relational. My own feelings of my worth to myself aside, I am valuable to the degree that I contribute to the life of others; the whole notion of value requires someone else to be of value to. Equally, people I don’t know, who have no social or economic relation with me, are of no value to me. The last human being in existence would be of precisely no value at all, there being nobody else to whom they could be valuable. That is, unless you bring in to the equation an external arbiter of value in the form of God; secular altruism justified in terms of ‘the equal value of all human beings’ seems to me completely baseless; without God, they simply aren’t. . . .'

[Seaelf]

It is an interesting question posed by the article what if everyone did

as her ? That question will and can only be hypothetical. People

are dysfunctional and have different needs- "broken " if you prefer. The woman in the article seemed to be driven by a need to do that and seemed far from happy. Many people are driven by powerful needs which would make it quite impossible for them to do it. : their apetites for consuming be it shopping eating , not eating

drinking ,drugs and the rest. Many

false needs unlike food drink oxygen yet very deepseated none the less. I don t see those people as necessarily selfish but having different needs. Shifting that is a hard task that few manage.

Everytime we spend money we may help or harm someone

our choices there are important.

If we don t earn and cosume that too has conseqences we can t all be employed and endless growth

carries a high price.

It is complicated . An interesting question -though a rather exhausting and exhaustive article.

Thanks S.t.

[FarmerD]

The problem with giving to charities appears when one looks at some the salaries paid to executives and the board of some charities.It really annoys me when Save The Children sand me reams of bumf I don,t want nor bother to read,use that money for the kids!D.

[Hidden]

Had a friend lived by this. Captured by the idea of forsaking all others to do good in the world. So busy putting everyone else first, she forgot about her own family. Except to decide that they didn't really need a television, or time to discuss their day.

While she was out do-gooding until all hours, her children would go next door and watch tv with a neighbour. While there, they'd talk about their day and get praised/told off as warranted. Friend's husband despaired of having his normal wife back and had tea with the neighbours too.

Last time I saw her, she was no longer married and living alone. Got the impression, the all encompassing smile was a bit forced.