[MD] Altruism

[Platt Holden]

> [Ham, repeated by Platt]
> 1. Because man values his own life above all, it is the nature of man to
> be selfish.  Therefore selfishness cannot be immoral.
> 
> [Ben]
> This can mean one of two things.  Either selfishness is always moral or
> selfishness is not always immoral.  If it's the first, I'd use murder as
> an obvious counter example.  If it's the second, I'd agree, but it's a
> pretty weak statement.

If interested in what I meant by agreeing with Ham, please refer to:

http://www.objectivistcenter.org/ct-406-FAQ_Virtue_Selfishness.aspx

> [Ham, repeated by Platt]
> 2. Altruism implies paternalism -- the assumption that the individual
> knows the interests of others better than they do themselves.  This
> fosters dependence on the part of others and works against the
> altruist's natural self-interest.
> 
> [Platt]
> It's always amazed me that someone could be so egoistic as to think she
> knows what would be good for somebody else.
> 
> [Ben]
> Your argument seems to read that any attempt to make someone else's life
> better will actually make it worse.  While I agree that some such cases
> occured, such as the Inquisition, I think the evidence strongly points
> against your prediction.  Or are you saying that no one should give to
> charity?  I oppose most "altruistic" public policy not because I oppose
> the altruism behind it, but because most of these policies just aren't
> efficient ways to accomplish what they're trying to do.

Yes, I should have qualified my statement. Charity is OK by me in the 
case of natural disaster to help people get back on their feet. But, 
there is overwhelming evidence that long-term public altruism creates 
dependency and anti-social behavior like out-of-wedlock pregnancies.  
So we agree that an "altruistic" public policy is largely ineffective, 
like the War on Poverty which failed utterly at humongous cost to us 
taxpayers who were forced at the point of gun to hand over part of our 
earnings to someone else. I see no difference between that and highway 
robbery.  

> [Ham, repeated by Platt]
> 3. As applied to society, altruism establishes an artificial morality
> which reduces individual motivation, minimizes the value of his
> contributions, and stifles development of his sense of moral goodness.
> 
> [Ben]
> There are altruistic policies that do indeed reduce the incentive to be
> productive.  There are also altruistic policies that help provide the
> education required to become productive.

To give a hungry man a fish is altruism. To teach him to fish is 
enlightenment.

Platt