Altruism vs. Goodwill: A Prime Example

A Dear Prudence reader who needs to unplug from current events every few weeks asks (search "autism and ADHD") what to do about people who "accuse me of not caring about what's happening outside my house's four walls" for taking a break from Things.

The question and the answer remind me of an acquaintance from my pre-Objectivist college days who seemed compelled to help people to the point it was negatively affecting his grades and other aspects of his life. You can't help them if you don't even take care of yourself, I observed. (Ayn Rand soon helped me get to what I was missing: That nobody has an unchosen obligation to help anyone.)

Prudence's answer is a little bit like mine then, as it also implicitly assumes altruism:

I appreciate that these people care about the awful things unfolding around us, and I understand that it can be frustrating to hear someone say they're simply not engaging. But don't they realize that if you're ultimately going to be able to tune into current events in a permanent way (and more important, do something to help make the changes you'd like to see) you have to be mentally stable and not in the middle of a family crisis to do so? You know the way you unplug and walk away from the news because it's draining your energy in a way you can't afford? Do the same thing -- but maybe permanently -- to those who are disregarding your wellbeing to shame you for what you're doing to survive. I would be very leery of anyone who saw me struggling with multiple diagnoses, caring for two generations of people, and decided to attack me instead of helping me. [bold added]

Despite its flaws, the answer is excellent advice, and it's too bad it doesn't question altruism since the attackers exemplify by way of a negative example a crucial distinction Rand made, but rarely gets credit for:

Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will or respect for the rights of others. These are not primaries, but consequences, which, in fact, altruism makes impossible. The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute, is self-sacrifice -- which means; self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction -- which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good. [bold added] ("Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World," Philosophy: Who Needs It)

The attackers certainly can't be accused of goodwill the way -- thoughtless at best -- they would goad the letter-writer to self-destruction! It's an extreme example, but a good one of how altruism is, in fact, the enemy of the welfare of the "others" its preachers express concern about.

-- CAV