Helping Others

I have been wondering what others here believe about helping others, such as donating money or your time to a charity. I have been talking to some people I know and some think it is good and some stupid. I am a person who thinks that as long as it is something you want to do, it is a good thing, even moral. I recenetly donated my time to a charity calle Para los Ninos, an organization that helps and educates underprivaleged children in the Los Angeles area. I actually found the experience fun as well as educational, and believe that it can be a good thing to help others who might need the help (such as those little kids).

Post 1

Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 12:25pm

Greg: There's so much confusion about charity, altruism and just being a person of good will. Shy Kid said,

Ayn Rand also rejects altruism, saying you should live selfishly and never help others

in another post. This is a falsehood. I don't know if Shy Kid is deliberately lying or whether he's just ignorant, but it is false. Rand rejects altruism which, in Objectivist terms, means sacrificing a higher value for a lower one. People of good will help others all the time. On the other hand, forced volunteerism, such as is present in educational institutions where one must perform x hours of community service before one can graduate, is an abomination. That is coercion. I happen to volunteer as a tutor for 5th and 6th grade math, but no one solicited my participation, the kids are respectful and interested in learning. If they weren't I wouldn't be bothered. If you want to make donations to worthy causes then you should go right ahead but make sure you're not just doing it to make yourself feel that you're a worthy person to compensate for low self esteem, and that the charities are really helping those in need and not enabling them to continue to be in need.

Sam

Post 2

Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 1:02pm

If you think that the donation is the best use of your time, effort, and/or money, by all means, exercise your independent judgment and donate.

Post 3

Friday, August 20, 2004 - 6:48am

Greg,
I think it's most likely great that you ~wanted~ to do that, that you gained a great deal of satisfaction from it, and that you shared it above. I suppose when it comes down to ~wanting~ to do charity, the way you've 'automatized' values into actual desire is the main question. I believe, and you may very well disagree, that when we attain values, we tend to have this overflowing quality that loves to see their embodiments in more and more ways, and something like generosity naturally flows out of us, not through premeditation, but in a delightful instance, and a great deal of spiritual satisfaction can come from doing what you did. There is also the sense in which you may directly value helping others in need, and of course the above instance would just be a desire perhaps coming from a more peripheral, more conscious level. The question would follow as to whether you judge that your happiness can be attained with that value and its relationship to your other values, and essentially your moral judgement can follow that way. This would be in accordance with my thinking, but I assume others would think otherwise.

I think that this is a great topic that can bring out a lot of discussion from what Rand indirectly meant, or what would be consistent with Rand, or what others merely think. Does any sort of benevolence have to be premeditated, and not in accordance with the instant desire that something spontaneous like generosity can have?? Or can we trust ourselves, after years of virtuous practice, that our spirits are doing the right thing (this is not to say that we are not consciously deliberating at all, of course)? Maybe a better question would be: Do benevolent actions have to be mere means to consciously evaluated selfish ends, or can they follow indirectly from other selfish ends? I'd be really interested to step back and listen to what others think of what you have done, and of these questions. :)

-Dominic

Post 4

Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 7:00pm

I happen to believe that helping others is good, as long as you want to do it. My school says that I must complete 60 hours of community service to graduate, and although I would have done this anyway, and wo would most of the people I associate with, I think that it is terrible to force people to do service like that, especially when it is not helping the world go round, but turning people off of doing good for others. Yes, I do donate my time because I want to and only to causes that I believe are worthy, such as Para los Ninos, if that answers any questions, but I do not agree with forced community service.

Post 5

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 12:22pm

I'll just combine the two criteria for my definition of when volunteering or donating money are good. First, you should want to do it, not out of obligation but because you think it's worth doing or fun. 2. It should do more good than harm. If you're just giving money to programs that don't help anyone but support the reasons they're in a bad situation, that's wrong.

With that said, volunteering is a lot of fun. But even when it's not always, doesn't mean you're doing it for the wrong reason. If you're tired that day, or don't feel like going, but know the benefits outweigh the costs, great!

My biggest hesitation for example is donating money to organizations for wildlife/animals. For example, I'd like to donate money to people who save gorillas from being killed, breed them, nurse them, whatever. But it's tough to make sure your money isn't going for government lobbying that you would oppose. Another one that came in the mail was an organization that was buying land to conserve it. I thought that was great, they buy it privately which is what I think should be done. But there was still government involvement which I didn't understand, so I hesitated.

-Elizabeth

Post 6

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 1:53pm

It's a shame that I can't give to a charity that educates the disadvantaged in the ways of Objectivism.

Now that charity, I would give money to.

(Edited by Orion Reasoner on 8/25, 1:53pm)

Post 7

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 11:42pm

Dominic, I think you bring up an interesting question here:

Do benevolent actions have to be mere means to consciously evaluated selfish ends, or can they follow indirectly from other selfish ends?

I think both instances are possible. For example, I started a business while living in Boston, and found that one of the best ways to network in my industry was to volunteer to chair a large charity event involving many top chefs and food purveyors. In trade for my services to organize the event, I was exposed to numerous opportunities to generate business. Best of all, this is the premise upon which the charity operated -- they didn't just ask people to give their time, but offered something tangible (networking opportunities and referrals) in return. So in this case, there was a conscious evaluation of the ends (the growth of my business).

As to the second part of your question, I think such actions happen every day without conscious effort. For example, if out of my anal-retentive need to be organized, I leave my office cubicle squeaky-clean each night, I make the office cleaning crew's task that much easier. I am not thinking of them when I do it, but out of my selfish pursuit of a personal goal they benefit.

Does that answer your question?

xoxo,
J

Post 8

Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 4:49am