Good greed

102:

The more confident we are with altruism the bigger the difference we can make with it. Or, put another way, a revamped altruism isn’t so much about being good as being confident of making a difference. Or it’s about being optimistic enough to believe that we ‘live in a safe universe’. Or it’s holding a belief  that pessimism mustn’t screw up the things we do. A selfish cum selfless sort of altruism has many uses.

I try not to think that altruism is only about goodness and idealism but about a good business deal, like ‘clean dealing’, like an opposite to greed, like making altruism into a greed for others, or like transposing it so that it can work for the best future imaginable, for all of us.

       The sticking point though is that altruism doesn’t necessarily bring happiness, not quite as you might expect it, anyway ... because it is all about the long term. The fruits of altruism might not be ready to harvest for some time - we might not personally be around to benefit from any of the altruistic initiatives we take. Altruism can be annoying, for not providing us with fun-right-now. That’s the hard-to-swallow nature of altruism, but it’s better than harbouring dark pessimism and doubt.

       I see it this way: too much indecision and doubt plunges me into gloom and self pity. Altruism, on the other hand, if it’s about anything at all, is about the joy of problem solving. There’s nothing better, than when we can do things without needing to get materially rewarded for doing them. It’s then that I think we have altruism in the bag!