Degree of altruism

Submitted by Claire (United States), Sep 22, 2007 at 23:45

"...not only in presevring the lives of people with low intelligence who can be easily manipulated, but who will be burdens on society (in many other ways) for their entire lives. Only a very wealthy society can indulge in that degree of altruism; but can we count on always being able to afford that luxury?"

Excellent point. It takes someone operating at a very high strategic level (using Eliot Jacqes' theory) to be able to make decisions that result in some people having to die for the good of the entire group. It's what makes a good military general, for example.

I had never thought of it as a "luxury," and that's exactly what it is. We have pre-natal procedures that are producing huge numbers of mentally defective people while many seek to imprison women who get abortions. The whole ethics issue needs to be more strategic, but instead it's relying on groupthink and at the effect of emotionalism.

Thanks for the insight.

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