The danger of altruism or why is it important to be selfish
Nowadays we are used to thinking that charity is what we all should do to make the world a better place, but is it true? To begin with, let’s find out where altruism came from and how it is being used. The truth is that many years ago, a caveman realized that a group was way more likely to survive than individuals. However, people are not the only organisms to form communities. Let’s look at pseudomonas bacteria. They live in water, and when their environment becomes not very favorable, they form groups and begin to produce glue that helps them stick together in a lump and float to the surface, closer to light, oxygen, and happiness. Yet, at some point, some bacteria begin to realize that the glue production is quite energy-consuming, so it’s easier to relax and rely on friends. Such bacteria begin to feel so good that they divide even better, thus increasing the percentage of loafers and directing the entire colony to inevitable death since they together with their descendants lose the ability to synthesize glue, and the few bacteria, that can still synthesize it, are not able to support the demand. The colony is drowning. The end.
But what about people?
Quite a lot of us have also realized that doing something ourselves and being responsible for it is too tiring, especially knowing that good people will always help those in need. What has this led to? — A huge number of poor large families, unemployed, beggars, scammers asking for money under the pretext of helping sick children, old people, orphans, etc. So what should we do? Shall we become heartless stones and stop assisting others? Of course, helping others is necessary, because once you might be in their shoes yourself, BUT you need to help only those people who deserve it, and you should do it in person. By giving alms on the street you are strengthening the business, which brings millions to beggars, their owners, and the police, which “turns a blind eye to them”. By sending donations to large organizations, you help their owners buy new yachts or launder money received from illegal human trafficking, drugs or weapons. By voting for state assistance to single mothers, large families, the unemployed, people with congenital disabilities, war veterans, etc., you increase the number of people who produce nothing but only consume, and most importantly, you deprive them of the opportunity to learn to be responsible for themselves. Of course, a person can get into a difficult situation for reasons beyond their control — for example, to become a peaceful victim of war, or an invalid due to a car accident; leaving such people in trouble is certainly inhumane. BUT, supporting a woman who decided to give birth to a child without a sufficient material base, or initially knowing that he will be born sick; supporting a family that, knowing that they have no food for their children, continue to make new babies; supporting people who themselves decided to go to war instead of resolving issues peacefully — such help will lead us to the moment when there will be no healthy, smart, responsible people in the world, because just like pseudomonas bacteria, they will die, crushed by masses of consumers with low-quality genes.
Want to help others? — Plant a tree yourself, or ten of them; shelter a stray animal, or a couple of them; help an unemployed friend find a job, clean up litter in the forest or on the beach, consume less food, take care of your things and don’t follow fast fashion, use public transport or a bicycle, share knowledge and happiness, BUT stop taking someone else’s responsibility.
And finally …
And I wrote this article listening to the sounds of heavy gun explosions, again. I still have to listen to those sounds almost every day. PEOPLE! Let’s TALK with each other because we have such an opportunity.
