I just skimmed this but it raises important issues (which of course have been discussed many times—often economic and philosophy papers).
(I partly skimmed it because i skimmed your ‘preprint’ paper linked to in another thread. I basically didn’t figure out what it said, except I noted it cited Robert May’s ‘complexity and stability’ book which is a classic, so I figured it said something—just not in my dialect.)
What really caught my attention (besides the author’s name) was mention of ‘vacation travel’ as non-altruistic, but part of personal responsibility. The same issue applies less obviously to ‘taking care of your kids’. In biology, having kids can be seen as either ‘selfish’ or ‘altruistic’—perhaps some child grows up to a great altruist. Aldo taking a vacation may be indirectly altruistic. If you don’t get some ‘personal time’, its possible you will not be able to take care of personal and family responsibilities, nor even be ‘altruistic’ (ie donate to various charities). You may help some others more if you take care of yourself enough to also help them.
The question is ‘how much is enough’?
I personally donate the little I do to local and small groups dealing with environmental and poverty issues, as well at times to individuals (who can’t make their bills—in a way this is taking care of myself—it keeps me on ok terms with people in my area, some of whom otherwise can get desperate and turn to criminal behavior.
In a sense i am paying a ‘tax’ for personal safety; which is why I support a some forms of ‘social safety or welfare nets’, and Universal or Conditional Basic Income . Also to an extent i am being ‘altruistic’ to people who are irresponsible—my donations ‘keep the peace’ around here, and while they provide some safety for me, they also provide safety for people who spend all their money on themselves (probably because they feel its a personal responsibility-and even altruistic in their own way. If they have some very expensive car , clothes, and house, their neighbors often like them—makes the nieghborhood aesthetic and a joy to live in. They would have less joy if they spent less on those, and relieved the ‘suffering’ among people who live a few blocks away who can’t afford heat, water, food or electricity by giving it to them. Often they also do not support government services such as ‘welfare’ or ‘rent subsidies’, except perhaps police protection --because that means they have to pay more taxes.
Also many go to church, so if they do give to charity, its their church. A few churches do ‘help the needy’ using donations, though often the help they give is a small fraction of the donations they get—which often goes for good salaries spent on nice clothes and cars and so on for the church staff. Of course the people who make those cars and clothes benefit as well—provides them a job, especially if they like the job. If its not a ‘3rd world sweatshop’ maybe they feel relativiely happy. Ii
I just skimmed this but it raises important issues (which of course have been discussed many times—often economic and philosophy papers).
(I partly skimmed it because i skimmed your ‘preprint’ paper linked to in another thread. I basically didn’t figure out what it said, except I noted it cited Robert May’s ‘complexity and stability’ book which is a classic, so I figured it said something—just not in my dialect.)
What really caught my attention (besides the author’s name) was mention of ‘vacation travel’ as non-altruistic, but part of personal responsibility. The same issue applies less obviously to ‘taking care of your kids’. In biology, having kids can be seen as either ‘selfish’ or ‘altruistic’—perhaps some child grows up to a great altruist. Aldo taking a vacation may be indirectly altruistic. If you don’t get some ‘personal time’, its possible you will not be able to take care of personal and family responsibilities, nor even be ‘altruistic’ (ie donate to various charities). You may help some others more if you take care of yourself enough to also help them.
The question is ‘how much is enough’?
I personally donate the little I do to local and small groups dealing with environmental and poverty issues, as well at times to individuals (who can’t make their bills—in a way this is taking care of myself—it keeps me on ok terms with people in my area, some of whom otherwise can get desperate and turn to criminal behavior.
In a sense i am paying a ‘tax’ for personal safety; which is why I support a some forms of ‘social safety or welfare nets’, and Universal or Conditional Basic Income . Also to an extent i am being ‘altruistic’ to people who are irresponsible—my donations ‘keep the peace’ around here, and while they provide some safety for me, they also provide safety for people who spend all their money on themselves (probably because they feel its a personal responsibility-and even altruistic in their own way. If they have some very expensive car , clothes, and house, their neighbors often like them—makes the nieghborhood aesthetic and a joy to live in. They would have less joy if they spent less on those, and relieved the ‘suffering’ among people who live a few blocks away who can’t afford heat, water, food or electricity by giving it to them. Often they also do not support government services such as ‘welfare’ or ‘rent subsidies’, except perhaps police protection --because that means they have to pay more taxes.
Also many go to church, so if they do give to charity, its their church. A few churches do ‘help the needy’ using donations, though often the help they give is a small fraction of the donations they get—which often goes for good salaries spent on nice clothes and cars and so on for the church staff. Of course the people who make those cars and clothes benefit as well—provides them a job, especially if they like the job. If its not a ‘3rd world sweatshop’ maybe they feel relativiely happy.
Ii