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I won't Fight for Altruism
by Glenn Woiceshyn
Published in the Globe and Mail on April 21, 1994.
Dear Editor,
Re: "Who Will Fight For Altruism?"--Editorial--Apr/19/94--The Globe and
Mail
The title of your editorial of April 19 asks: "Who will fight for altruism?"
Not me! Altruism is the theory that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that
service to others is the only justification for his existence, and that self-sacrifice
is his highest moral duty, virtue and value. No rational defense has ever been given
for altruism, nor could one ever be given. Nor did your editorial attempt to give
one. How it could be immoral to pursue your own life and happiness yet moral to sacrifice
it to others is beyond reason and reality. But throughout history, the theory of
altruism was employed by tyrants to justify human slaughter on a massive scale.
Altruism is the cause of tribalism not its solution; and this includes the tribalism
in Bosnia. Only the philosophy of individual rights and rational self-interest could
have prevented the now hopeless situation in Bosnia. To sacrifice the lives of our
soldiers to their self-inflicted mess is doubly immoral. Altruism is also the cause
of UN impotence and the spineless display of appeasement by Western nations, which
is reminiscent of the period just after Iraq invaded Kuwait. No country should have
intervened in Bosnia unless it was for self-defense. Now that they have, the only
solution is to get the peacekeepers out fast, and urge the USA and its allies to
hammer the culprits with massive air strikes and demand unconditional surrender.
It's not a great choice but neither are the alternatives.
As far as the future is concerned, we should bury the morality of altruism in the
ideological dump where it belongs.
Sincerely,
Glenn Woiceshyn
© 1997 Glenn Woiceshyn. All rights reserved.
This article can be found on-line at at http://www.capitalism.org/glennw. |
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