drain.you
24th November 2005, 21:27
Altruism can refer to:
* being helpful to other people with little or no interest in being rewarded for one's efforts (the colloquial definition). This is distinct from merely helping others.
* actions that benefit others with a net detrimental or neutral effect on the actor, regardless of the actor's own psychology, motivation, or the cause of her actions. This type of altruistic behavior is referred to in ecology as Commensalism.
* an ethical doctrine that holds that individuals have a moral obligation to help others, if necessary to the exclusion of one's own interest or benefit. One who holds such a doctrine is known as an "altruist."
I have raised this issue with a couple of people in the revleft chat and they argue that communism is not altruistic but I believe it is.
I want communism for a better world for people, I've never really thought of how it would help me, only about others.
People have argued against me, saying that people are selfish, have been and always will be but here is a quote which I think goes against this,
"We civilised men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak members of civilised societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man itself, hardly any one is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed."
That was from Darwin, btw.
Also there is evidence of altruism in other animals,
Examples of animal altruism
* Dolphins support sick or injured animals, swimming under them for hours at a time and pushing them to the surface so they can breathe,
* Wolves and wild dogs bring meat back to members of the pack not present at the kill,
* Male baboons threaten predators and cover the rear as the troop retreats,
* Gibbons and chimpanzees with food will, in response to a gesture, share their food with others of the group.
* Bonobos have been observed aiding other injured or handicapped bonobos.[1]
* Vampire bats regularly regurgitate blood and donate it to other members of their group who have failed to feed that night, ensuring they do not starve,
* In numerous bird species, a breeding pair receives help in raising its young from other “helper” birds, who protect the nest from predators and help to feed the fledglings,
* Most mammal carnivores like wolves or dogs have a habit of not harming pack members below certain age, of opposite sex or in surrendering position (in case of some animals, the behavior exists within entire species rather than one pack),
* Vervet monkeys give alarm calls to warn fellow monkeys of the presence of predators, even though in doing so they attract attention to themselves, increasing their personal chance of being attacked.
I believe capitalist society is not as altruistic as communism as the economy promotes 'survival of the fittest' ideology and not helping one another.
Anyhow, what do you guys think?
* being helpful to other people with little or no interest in being rewarded for one's efforts (the colloquial definition). This is distinct from merely helping others.
* actions that benefit others with a net detrimental or neutral effect on the actor, regardless of the actor's own psychology, motivation, or the cause of her actions. This type of altruistic behavior is referred to in ecology as Commensalism.
* an ethical doctrine that holds that individuals have a moral obligation to help others, if necessary to the exclusion of one's own interest or benefit. One who holds such a doctrine is known as an "altruist."
I have raised this issue with a couple of people in the revleft chat and they argue that communism is not altruistic but I believe it is.
I want communism for a better world for people, I've never really thought of how it would help me, only about others.
People have argued against me, saying that people are selfish, have been and always will be but here is a quote which I think goes against this,
"We civilised men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak members of civilised societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man itself, hardly any one is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed."
That was from Darwin, btw.
Also there is evidence of altruism in other animals,
Examples of animal altruism
* Dolphins support sick or injured animals, swimming under them for hours at a time and pushing them to the surface so they can breathe,
* Wolves and wild dogs bring meat back to members of the pack not present at the kill,
* Male baboons threaten predators and cover the rear as the troop retreats,
* Gibbons and chimpanzees with food will, in response to a gesture, share their food with others of the group.
* Bonobos have been observed aiding other injured or handicapped bonobos.[1]
* Vampire bats regularly regurgitate blood and donate it to other members of their group who have failed to feed that night, ensuring they do not starve,
* In numerous bird species, a breeding pair receives help in raising its young from other “helper” birds, who protect the nest from predators and help to feed the fledglings,
* Most mammal carnivores like wolves or dogs have a habit of not harming pack members below certain age, of opposite sex or in surrendering position (in case of some animals, the behavior exists within entire species rather than one pack),
* Vervet monkeys give alarm calls to warn fellow monkeys of the presence of predators, even though in doing so they attract attention to themselves, increasing their personal chance of being attacked.
I believe capitalist society is not as altruistic as communism as the economy promotes 'survival of the fittest' ideology and not helping one another.
Anyhow, what do you guys think?