What a man giveth – IV (About altruism)
The point of previous posts was to establish that although human is a social animal; he has a strong individualistic streak.
It is important to realize that for any system of governance to work, it has to go along with basic human instincts. And this is the reason altruism will not work.
People mistake that altruism is only about giving and sharing without expecting a return. The important condition to altruism is that not only all participants should be willing to share their produce; they should be willing to produce according to their capability.
As the nature of humanity is, this can not be ensured, it is perfectly well for ants, in fact the very idea of individualism will be beyond the comprehension of ants (assuming that they had the capacity for abstract thought).
This is not to say that altruism doesn't exist, but wherever it exists it is a matter of culture and is followed voluntarily. Since human culture is variant, altruism as bedrock of governance principle is simply not reliable enough.
It can be enforced by the power of state, this is what communism does, but since it is not voluntarily it fails, indeed it can not be otherwise, because while force can prevent man from doing something, it can not coerce or compel him to produce.
Anything of creative nature, any scientific advancement, any artistic breakthrough is only possible through own volition.
Therefore a welfare state, which seeks to enforce altruism, can not succeed in long term because there will be a propensity of citizens not to try their damnest and put their best efforts.
It need not be conscious, more likely it will be subconscious, a dependency on the big brother to solve each and every problem no matter how personal or how trivia,l of the citizen.
Absent the initiative, the welfare state is a long road to decrepitude and decay
It is important to realize that for any system of governance to work, it has to go along with basic human instincts. And this is the reason altruism will not work.
People mistake that altruism is only about giving and sharing without expecting a return. The important condition to altruism is that not only all participants should be willing to share their produce; they should be willing to produce according to their capability.
As the nature of humanity is, this can not be ensured, it is perfectly well for ants, in fact the very idea of individualism will be beyond the comprehension of ants (assuming that they had the capacity for abstract thought).
This is not to say that altruism doesn't exist, but wherever it exists it is a matter of culture and is followed voluntarily. Since human culture is variant, altruism as bedrock of governance principle is simply not reliable enough.
It can be enforced by the power of state, this is what communism does, but since it is not voluntarily it fails, indeed it can not be otherwise, because while force can prevent man from doing something, it can not coerce or compel him to produce.
Anything of creative nature, any scientific advancement, any artistic breakthrough is only possible through own volition.
Therefore a welfare state, which seeks to enforce altruism, can not succeed in long term because there will be a propensity of citizens not to try their damnest and put their best efforts.
It need not be conscious, more likely it will be subconscious, a dependency on the big brother to solve each and every problem no matter how personal or how trivia,l of the citizen.
Absent the initiative, the welfare state is a long road to decrepitude and decay
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