Altruism is irresistible

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We need to discover if altruism can work for us, at first privately and then collectively.  As individuals, we need to take the initiative without waiting around for others to go first.  It’s up to us to bite the same bullet we accuse others of not biting.  It’s up to us to find out if altruistic initiatives are safe, then go ahead and enjoy adopting them and promoting them. 

We have to be happy taking on more than our fair share of responsibility, and it’s not a matter of who does more or who less, or who is holier or guiltier. It isn’t even about who’s more culpable or more capable. It is about the most intelligent remedy for what’s gone wrong. The nature of altruism is effective repair, that’s all. It’s simply the one thing that can slow down destructive tendencies and transform violence.  It gives humanity a different type of motivation, which will take us into an entirely different type of world.

           

However, big repair needs big numbers of people, armies of advocates, and not just a willing few.  Today the numbers are growing but slowly.  Humans drag their heels because it seems like such a big step to take, to take up a less human-centred project in order to help the development of a damaged human race. In a nutshell, it all begins by standing aside from animal exploitation in all its forms.  This is a very big personal step, to not eat them, wear them, use products with bits of animal in them, and then to start to advocate on their behalf.

Each advocate needs both energy and motivation, strong enough to withstand anything thrown at us.  We have to transform the way we function as individuals, the way we think and act.  We need to set off a chain reaction of irresistible altruism, and if it is going to start anywhere it’s obviously going to be by boycotting the violence associated with animal exploitation.

As a force for transformation altruism might just do the trick, but there are dangers, one of which being that some of us advocates get carried away by the self-glorification of it all, and forget the principle of thinking about others before, not after, we think of ourselves.

           

If this idea is going to work it must ‘go to the feeling’ within, so much so that it will dissolve our value judgements of others.  It must be strong enough to step aside from resolving situations with any sort of violence, and that includes the violence inherent in judgement-making.  If that means being not quite so pushy or not quite so righteous, or not being right all the time, then so be it.  This is not about me, not about us, it’s about the interests of the slaves we own, known as ‘domesticated animals’.

We are so used to focusing on the main chance and seeking opportunity, that we have to go towards the altruistic with our eyes open, to consciously avoid self-advantage in order to bring about a revolution in our very thinking. If we look for a different sort of reward it will be found by seeing others also acting altruistically.