The Dialectic of Self Interest and Altruism

What I mean by Dialectic is in line with Hegel’s concept of opposing concepts resolving in a synthesis of sorts.

This post will be fairly short, but will capture a brief muse I’ve not yet written down in public.

Essentially the muse is born of the question of whether self interest or altruism is the best approach. Libertarian or Socialist?

Ideally, if everyone was looking out for each other then the world would be compassionately balanced. However, all it takes is one bad actor to utilise this mutual empathy as naivety. A totally compassionate society- a socialist or communist society even, is not resilient against bad actors (as we’ve seen historically); it’s not anti-fragile. There is also the point to make that ‘charity starts at home’, and the maxim ‘you cannot fill from an empty bucket’.

Conversely, if everyone is at competition with one-another with no imposed rules that perpetuate bias- then the strongest survive and it’s still ‘fair’ for all participants. This is more like a form of pure capitalism. However, in practice- accumulated wealth and advantage does carry forward through generations, and early advantages play a huge part in future outcomes. A constant state of competition and conflict does not allow for contemplative innovation, and many benefits we receive now are a direct byproduct of teamwork, someone else’s good will, and selfless contributions in years passed.

Even the most self interested individual must exercise some element of giving, for if they hoard too much wealth and value- eventually it will be taken by those without, (they have to at least pay the people who guard them from those who want what they’ve got). And even the most altruistic individual must keep enough at least for themselves to survive- and, in order to sensibly and strategically maximise their ability to give to others, probably put themselves in a position of moderate wealth.

There is a golden zone on the spectrum of altruism and self-interest, in which there is an element of stability. The question I would ask is: does it matter at which direction you approach the dialectic from? Does it matter if you give out of self interest, or if you accumulate out of altruism?

I would add that within a community, giving in a mutual ‘circular economy’ lessens the risk that one becomes derelict themselves by giving too much, as there is more security that you will receive in return. This is easier to achieve in smaller groups, and much harder to enact on a societal level.