THE MORALITY OF ALTRUISM

THE MORALITY OF ALTRUISM VS CAPITALISM (Ayn Rand)

The word altruism is regarded by most people as a noble concept, because it is mistaken for charity, benevolence, kindness, respect for the rights of others, or the voluntary actions that individuals choose to pursue to help his fellow men. But this is not the true meaning of altruism.

Altruism has been man's ruling moral code for most of mankind's history. It has had many forms or variations but it's essence has remained the same: altruism holds that men have no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only moral justification of its existence, and that self sacrifice is its highest moral value, duty and valor. It regards man as a sacrificial animal. It is the underlying moral code of collectivism.

On the other hand, the moral code which is implicit in capitalism, has never been made explicit. The basic premise of that code is that men, every man, is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others, that men must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others, nor sacrificing others to himself, and that men must deal with one another thru voluntary cooperation, as traders, be it in cultural, philosophical, spiritual, social, or economic goods, for mutual benefit, and devoid of all violence or coercion.

This in essence is the moral premise on which the United Stated was based, the principle of men's right to his own life, his own liberty, and the pursuit of his own happiness. The concept of individual rights.  This concept is so new in human history that many intellectuals have not fully grasped it, as they remained committed to the mystic morality of altruism, and it is the most profoundly revolutionary achievement of the United States.

Capitalism does not tell men to suffer, not to pursue enjoyment and achievement here, on earth. It does not tell men to serve and sacrifice, but to produce and profit. It does not preach passivity and resignation but independence and self reliance, and above all, capitalism does not permit anyone to expect or demand, to give or to take, the unearned.

The altruist-collectivist morality was the underlying concept of every political system since the dawn of civilization, until the arrival of capitalism. The rulers of society exerted their power under the principle of:  "The good is that which is good for society (or the tribe, the race, the nation), and the ruler's edicts are its voice on earth....". This was the underlying principle of every statist society: the Divine right of Kings, the theocracy of Egypt with the Pharoah as an embodied god, the unlimited mayority rule or democracy of Athens, the welfare state run by Roman Emperors, The Inquisicion of the Middle Ages, the absolute monarchy of France, the welfare state of Bismark, the gas chambers of the National-Socialism of Nazi Germany, the slaughterhouse of comunist Soviet Union.

The advent of capitalism is what allowed hundreds of millions of peasants and people subjugated by  the ruling elites, to escape poverty, prosper and live free, and produced the most egalitarian societies know to humanity since the beginning of the human race