A new take on altruism

Things we do voluntarily should be done because we find it difficult to stop, because it gives us pleasure. I remember my parents playing with their first grandchild. I knew they’d never get bored by her, even though in their old age the child’s energy was exhausting for them. They just loved being exhausted that way. This is what relative altruism is about - using any amount of effort to find a balance point between the selfish and the selfless, between benefiting self and being of benefit to others and always knowing that we do the best we can and that each day we’ve tried to foster a sense of altruism. We don’t need to win brownie points or pave our way to enlightenment. We just need to do things for others for the fun of it. If there’s no fun there’s no altruism.
Relative altruism guarantees us a certain sort of energy relative to that which we put out. In this way the energy of altruism is self perpetuating. It expands rather than expends. At the outset, altruism might make our lives more difficult but by its valuable lessons, our day is brighter because of it. If what we do benefits the planet then it is a bonus and if at the same time we can also withdraw our support from "the cageman", all the better! We can help put him out of business, or better still encourage him to make his living another way!
Altruism clarifies the order of things. It tells us what to avoid and what to do next. It brings us home.