As a life-long liberal, you can imagine my dismay when Andrew Breitbart alleged that I and my kind were
...”living in a world of self loathing nihilism, trying to undo human nature, and trying to create a path towards an unrealistic utopia.”
Andrew apparently sleeps a lot better since having become
...”centered and oriented with human nature.”
This started me thinking about the alignment of liberalism, altruism, and human – and animal - nature. I must be made of different stuff than Andrew, because I’m able to sleep well after a hard day’s work, grateful for a challenging and rewarding career, intriguing avocations, a loving spouse, good health, and the ability to contribute to the well-being of folks within and beyond my family.
Liberalism
In my simplistic view, liberalism shares its basic tenets with many major religions: poverty, hunger, and disease take their toll on many in our society. This is avoidable. It’s our moral responsibility to look out for others and take action to help. We can change lives, and we will be better people if we do these things.
As individuals, we can make a difference, but problems of significant extent require government involvement. Since the redistribution of wealth is a logistically complex undertaking, the government plays a necessary role through collection of taxes and through Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, and a host of programs aimed at assisting those in need. It’s not perfect, and many people still fall through the massive gaps in the safety net. That doesn’t mean we should hunker down in our financial fallout shelters and care only for ourselves. We should go out into the world and see where we can be of service, individually and collectively.
If a world where poverty, disease, and hunger can be countered through the reallocation of wealth, sign me up. I’m happy to share what I can. As Oscar Wilde noted, “A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth glancing at.”
Altruism and Human Nature
I believe that human nature is inherently altruistic, and that we have to be carefully taught that helping others is actually “bad”. As we mature from infants to adults (and – we hope – continue to evolve as adults), we gain a recognition of altruistic behavior and how it can enable us to become contributing members of society.
Our focus as toddlers may be on what’s mine! Mine! MINE! Mercifully, most of us progress to higher levels of social consciousness where we realize the benefits of at least a simple quid-pro-quo bargain form of altruism. I’ll give you half of my piece of cake for two of your cookies. You help me finish the chores; I’ll let you borrow my bike. Help me study for this algebra test, and I’ll help you with your social studies project.
As we mature, we learn by instruction or by example (ideally, both) that more is expected of us, and that some of these expectations benefit the other person without any commensurate “reward”. In some cases, we help others to our own detriment. If we help the old lady get her groceries into the car, we might get a thank you. If we rescue an orphaned raccoon, we probably wind up with eventual heartbreak at best (rabies at worst). We’re expected to “do a good turn daily” in Scouting, and the most satisfying good turns are those carried out in anonymity.
If a tree falls in the liberal woods and nobody’s there to see it, we should still move it off the path so that others won’t have to climb over it.
Beyond the confines of our families, we learn that our good deeds can be magnified if we join with others. The Saturday morning car wash fundraiser is a greater success if each person applies their skills – making arrangements for the venue, jumping up and down and waving signs, greeting customers, scrubbing the cars, making change, cleaning up afterwards. Not only is this more efficient, it’s actually more fun. We’re now part of a pack, which brings me to...
Altruism and Animal Nature
If altruism is a natural state for humans, perhaps there is some evidence of it in the animal kingdom. Are there examples of animal behaviors that benefit others in their pack, herd, or species, while providing no benefit to the individual (or causing risk or harm to the individual). This behavior is fairly common at the unicellular level in communal organisms such as slime molds where the outer ring of organisms is essentially a sacrificial anode for the protected inner population, I’m thinking more in terms of sentient beings - fellow mammals – that have the capacity to decide their actions.
Consider for example a dolphin rescuing a drowning human and pushing them to safe shores. It’s not doing the dolphin a bit of good to take on this task, other than a few possible moments of entertainment. A species of monkey warns its fellow monkeys of danger by issuing an alarm call, placing itself at greater risk of predator attack while protecting their tribe. Wolves return to the cave to share their kill with those who did not participate due to old age, infirmity, or maternal responsibilities. There are countless tales of orphaned cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, and other potential prey animals who are “adopted” by dogs or other animals and cared for as if they were part of an animal family, rather than an expedient meal. While this benefits the adoptee, it’s unclear how it benefits the adopter.
Since animals are acting in their individual and collective best interests (and since they don’t read either right-wing or left-wing political commentary), we can assume that their altruistic behavior is “natural”. The underlying biological imperative is the survival of the species, ahead of the survival of the individual.
Human altruism, and the willingness to give of one’s time and resources, are natural states, and logically aligned with a liberal life view. We are “wired” to feel empathy, and to exercise free will, enabling us to help others, whether through redistribution of our taxes, volunteering for a non-profit organization, or simply seeing a need and lending a hand. Those who tell us that our altruism is misplaced, or that those we endeavor to help are unworthy of our efforts… maybe they’re the ones who aren’t quite “natural”.