Reading Assignment #7: Individualism vs. Altruism

A.
Truthfully, I did not find the document to be overwhelmingly interesting, as most of it was just a bunch of notes. But I did find a couple examples that were provided to be interesting to think about.

One example of altruism that really stood out to me is the one about saving a stranger child who is drowning over your own (see part C below for the example I am talking about).

Like the document discusses, a truly altruistic person would elect to save another child over one's own. I'd be hard-pressed to believe that any single person in the world would prefer to save a child who is a stranger over one's own child. This just is not a pragmatic concept. I found this example to be very interesting and it made me think that the document is completely right: no one in this world can be completely altruistic.

One final thing I found interesting was how individualism is actually beneficial to our society. The document does a beautiful job explaining how thinking in one's self-interest actually benefits all because it spurs more production and exchange. This idea made me think that when people do something I consider "greedy", maybe it is not greedy at all. If a person does not want to donate money to a charity, maybe it is not greedy on his/her part because he/she might spend that money elsewhere to spur economic growth that could help more people than the charity could.

This made me think that when I call someone greedy, maybe it is actually me who is the greedy one since I am not looking out for others well-being, but rather, the people's well-being who I believe are more important.


B.
1. What would our world look like if everybody truly was altruistic? Would we have a productive economy with technological growth or would the world be stagnate as it once was prior to the Industrial Revolution?
2. Were/Are there ever any completely altruistic societies, and if so, how did/are they fare/faring?
3. Can a personal actually be considered selfish/greedy even if he/she is taking his/her self-interests "too far?" This document shows how acting in one's self-interest is actually good for society in many ways, so, are the people who claim that self-indulged people are greedy actually the selfish ones?

C.

This compilation of a book excerpt/notes included an excerpt from Hayak's book, in which he discusses the meaning of Extender Order as well as the idea of individualism vs. altruism.

The document begins with discussing how the morals of the market economy cause us to benefit others, but this isn't the case because we intend to do so.

In short, we benefit others because the market makes us act in a manner that allows that effect take place. According to Hayak, the Extended Order is to thank for this. The extended order is simply what happens when a system embraces specialization and trade and thus constitutes an information gathering process that no governmental/high authority or any one individual could know how to attain.

The document later goes on to discuss how our moral obligations extend ONLY to our own values. For example, if I provide financial charity to a mohair farmer, I am not doing it as an altruistic action. Rather, I am doing it because of my values. Maybe I value human life, and therefore, it is in my best interest to donate to this farmer.

Another great example this is provided in the document is one about attaining wealth. Let's say I want to become wealthier for my own personal well-being. But to do this I must, as the article puts it, "enter society and become a social being."

This simply means that I have to trade and produce to attain wealth, which are actions that benefit everyone else in the economy. This shows perfectly how when one tries to act in his/her own self-interest, he/she is being altruistic even though he/she may not have necessarily meant to have been.

The individualism segment of the document concludes with the idea that individualism is the basis of the institution of private property- altruism rejects private property, and I have learned throughout this course, property rights are vital because it gives people incentives to work harder/produce more/exchange more.

After this segment, the article discusses altruism. Here are some notes from that section that were important:

1. Altruism: one's devotion to the interests of others more than one's own interests
2. There is nothing wrong with having the best interests of others in mind, but the bottom line is that an individual will almost always be more likely to be motivated by his/her own values than others value.
3. The morality of altruism is simply: sacrifice
4. A couple great examples of why altruism is not as realistic as it may seem:
1. If a friend is in financial trouble, you may give him money. While this may seem like altruism, it is not. Clearly, by giving your friend money, you are showing that the satisfaction you receive by giving your friend money is of greater value than the money and the material goods the money represents.
2. Many people consider themselves altruistic, but think about this: if two kids are drowning and one is yours and another kid you don't know. You can only save one kid. Which one would you save? Almost definitely your own child. If you were a pure altruist, you would pick the stranger because you'd be thinking in the best interest of others above your own interests.