Altruism

If we are vegan and can’t understand why others are not, it may be worth looking closely at altruistic impulse. Is it altruism that initially drives someone to give away a lot of the ‘benefits of life’ for the sake of saving animals? To think so seriously about animals and bring that concern into our daily lives is simply being altruistic. But is that selflessness or is it something more interesting? What does the idea altruism involve?
No one actually criticises altruism as an ideal. It is beyond reproach because it’s meant to be about selflessness and considering others’ interests before one’s own. But like Nietzsche, I believe this definition is demeaning. More particularly, it’s unrealistic because it is the kind of purity no one can keep up. We are survivors and therefore have to be selfish and self-interested. We love to look after our own first and others afterwards. Perhaps that is relative altruism; one that we can enjoy unashamedly because it feels good to be doing something for others whilst doing something good for ourselves. There’s a lot of giving-out needed today; yet we shouldn’t neglect our own interests or our own need for reward. If we are brutally honest with ourselves, it is the reward we think about. Not necessarily being paid money for doing something helpful or winning praise or getting thanked. The reward is more like incoming energy – the buzz we get from being useful.
At its heart, altruism must be self rewarding. If it isn’t, why deplete yourself for it? Doing good without getting some recognition back, makes us become resentful. It’s only natural to expect something back. We give a birthday present, we expect a thank you. And if it doesn’t appear, we notice that we’re less inclined to bother next birthday.
Whatever we do, even if it’s a paid job, we need something extra, a recognition, because it makes what we do run smoother, which encourages us to give our all. This is much better than being pinched into giving the bare minimum expected. If just small recognition is shown it makes us feel energised. We all like the feeling of giving, whether it’s quality of service or a quality in our relationships. By being vegan we give quality to our own life and at the same time to the lives of the animals we help save from being reared and killed and eaten.