I Cannot Believe Its True Altruism

I think pure altruism is bullshit. I was sitting in my CPR class and there were a couple of people in the class needing CPR for nursing school, Everyone was giving them the "do it for people, not for money" speech. Why is it so wrong to make good money at a job that one enjoys and helps others at? Why is being poor and in service to others considered more pure than having money and being altruistic? You want to know why? Because it justifies poverty and the lives of those who perform those jobs. It is a way of the employer telling the employee "Great job! We are only going to pay you nine dollars an hour, but Wow!, you are fucking spectacular, keep up the good work." It is a way to justify paying people less than what they are really worth, can't pay'em in money, pay'em in pats on the back.

I do not think that I would fully trust someone who said their objective in serving people and the planet were totally altruistic. The contradiction when someone says they do x, y, z for the benefit of others with no benefit in it for themselves AT ALL again is bullshit. We, as human beings, do everything we do because we get something out of it, be it self-worth, ego, feeling good, safety, financial and physical gains and whatever else. I work with handicapped people. Gee, I must be a fucking saint *laughs*. I am far from a saint. The reason I work in this field is that I am intimately knowledgeable with it. I have a disabled child. As a job, that serves me.

I feel good helping people. That helps raise my self-worth and ego. I enjoy the company of the people that I serve. That brings me happiness. I receive a paycheck that pays my bills, gives me money and that keeps a roof over my head. That brings me financial gain and physical security. I do not perform my job out of the cockles of my heart; if I said so I would be a liar.

If in the process of getting all the things that I get from my job and performing it well, I can bring love and happiness to those that I serve, it is a win-win situation.

The word "interdependence" is key to reciprocal altruism. I realize that I must be willing to give to others what they need to survive and thrive in this life in order that they might *laughs again* want to give me what I need to survive and thrive in my own life. That is Reciprocal Altruism. There will always be selfish assholes who cannot reciprocally give and would not know altruism from headcheese, but the majority of people in the world get the concept.

Give in order to get, yes that is what I wrote. Give in order to get. When you give people what they need to survive and thrive, you give a little bit of balance to the world and yes, that does benefit you. This planet, all beings on it are interdependent on one another. The wise altruistic person is someone who realizes that their needs and the needs of other beings are all interlocked together in a delicate pattern.