“Giving Tuesday” and Altruism – November 27, 2018
So what is “Giving Tuesday”? What is Altruism? We will start with the latter. But first a look back at the recent past. You have just been through “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday”. They have become rituals, shop until you drop and type away until your wrists hurt. Get your big screen TV, hopefully your third or so for your house and I’m sure the newest I-Phone or Samsung will be out. It is one big shopping extravaganza, rivaling the magnitude of the games at the Roman Coliseum. Bread and circus for all. Our fortunes will rise and fall, both through incurred debt from shopping and our 401 K changes based on how sales went over the weekend for corporations. But there are also some other changes that are creeping up on us due to our penchant for expressing our sentiments for each other, and ourselves, (the first gift I buy is always for myself) by overconsuming. Once more concern, if you are on your laptop or cell phone beware of identity theft! A whole new wave of insanity has developed with the need for cybersecurity and it is real. Yet somewhere I can’t help but think that the people who offer us internet security also employ “black ops” people who come up with programs to beat the security systems so we keep needing upgrades, at a premium cost of course.
If you manage not to have your data stolen that’s great but you may not escape the Robocallers and advertisements that keep popping up on your screen. In ways I do not comprehend they get the data necessary to harangue you while you are visiting sites. I keep getting calls for insurance sign-ups, pain management, and various insurances. It must be my demographic. For a while I was getting calls stating the IRS was “coming to get me”, unless I gave “them” the information they needed to prevent a visit. These were real people, at least they had human voices, and routinely hung up when I told them how deeply concerned I was offering to put them in touch with the state Attorney General’s office. By the way the Robocallers are quite persistent. I have went so far as solemnly telling them the owner of this number has died, but it did not stop them. I have taken to keeping a “Screaming Goat” YouTube video available and I just turn it on when it’s a marketer. No luck yet stopping them but at least I get some comic relief from it.
I know various callers are just trying to make a living, perhaps by stealing my identity, but there must be a line of work somewhere they can find other than being so predatory and annoying. And if you thought the “help” number you attempted to use to straighten out a problem with your credit card or some other item was annoying with their frustrating automated selections they are moving into the field of artificial intelligence. This is not an improvement as of yet, unless you can ask the questions exactly in a manner so that it can be answered by their limited response selections. I hope you see the flaw in that one. So as you continue on the path to developing carpal tunnel syndrome and a sleep disorder from watching your various screens as you search for the best deal while simultaneously scrutinizing the fluctuating Stock Market, as it will rise and fall based on the reports from Wal-Mart, Target, and of course technology, I want you to consider directing some of your attention to the Tragedy of the Commons.
The tragedy of the commons describes a situation where people acting independently in their own perceived self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all. By doing so they exhaust their resources. A common example offered is let’s say you are living in a small community where each family has three cows that meet their needs and do not exhaust the land which is needed to sustain them. Everything is in ecological harmony. Then one family decides to get a couple more cows to produce more milk and gain greater profit. Others follow and before long the land can no longer sustain the overgrazing and the ecosystem begins to degrade. This is about greed and self-interest that does not respect one’s neighbors or the environment. This is what we are doing in our present economic system. It is based on individuals consuming more and more to generate larger profits for owners and shareholders. This is not sustainable and the natural world in which we live in is weighing in on our behavior in dramatic fashion. This racing forward to the next mile marker, or quarterly report, does not begin to address the environmental catastrophe we are in the midst of. We have to change our behavior and with it our economic systems. I imagine this is pretty much the message “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss communicates to us. Maybe that should be required reading for all of us. But it needs to be read with heart so we feel the suffering of both the characters in it and the land.
So where does altruism fit in? I have just started the book “Altruism” by Matthieu Ricard and it is one of those books that gets you thinking about issues that often are on the fringe of our consciousness primarily due to our busy lives. We, much like retail sales and the stock market, are constantly running from place to place hoping to achieve a goal which is unattainable simply because we will always want more at least within this particular culture. This prevents us from being in the moment and reflecting on our lives, how we live them, and how our actions affect others including the biosphere that we are a part of.
Altruism is something that can be difficult to define. I believe it requires empathy and compassion for oneself and others. Many talk about an act not being altruistic if you benefit from it. I disagree. If something I do makes you happy or reduces your suffering I will feel positive about it. Why am I doing this? For self-gain? Perhaps, but if my act makes the world a little bit happier and I am gratified by it that seems acceptable to me. If I make you happy in the hope that later I can borrow some money from you that could simply be the principle of reciprocity or maybe I am being manipulative. But “Right Mind”, “Right Action” (see Buddhism) is an important consideration. We do benefit from having empathy and easing the suffering of others and that seems to me a natural response.
Can we consume in a way that benefits others? I think we can. One of the issues that has come to light recently is Environmental Racism defined as “the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color particularly low-income individuals. Environmental justice is the movement’s response to environmental racism” (http://greenaction.org/?page_id=420). Our economic system exploits people both in the U.S. and particularly globally through outsourcing. In fact some believe capitalism is by nature exploitive due to poor wages for the majority of people, the fact that we are driven to consume in a way that puts us under constant stress, a kind of conspicuous consumption that has been normalized to a degree, and the degradation of the natural world in which we live.
Less selfishness and greed leads to a more equitable and sustainable communities. There are a number of approaches we can utilize to begin to change this situation.
First, get educated. The suggested book on Altruism is a good start. The “Better World Handbook”, by Ellis Jones, Ross Haenfler, and Brett Johnson is a great start as it provides plenty of opportunities for a “hands on approach”. “The Better World Shopping Guide” actually rates companies on sustainable practices and I believe that includes how they treat their employees.
Second, commit to purchasing “Fair Trade” goods or products from companies that operate in a sustainable manner. Your dollars are very important and companies will follow your dollars. This has been an effective strategy examples being changes in raising food. Non-GMO brands are becoming more popular and the meat we consume is increasingly raised in more “humane conditions”, fed natural foods and fewer antibiotics. We’ll leave the discussion about humanely raising animals to be killed for another time.
Third, have a voice. Communicate your thoughts not only by where you spend your money but by contacting the company, politicians, and/or joining groups that support sustainable and just and equitable practices. All it takes is a brief letter or an e-mail that outlines your concerns and hope that the company will change their practices so you can continue to support them.
And for today, 11/27/18 you can join in with “Giving Tuesday” https://www.givingtuesday.org/,
If you are so moved. Remember Climate Change affects all of us. What we do, the Western World and our consumption habits, affect people thousands of miles away. We have a responsibility not only to each other but to all the others species that inhabit the earth.