I believe to truly become successful, there must be some altruism involved. What is the point of being a billionaire if you cannot enjoy your success helping others achieve their personal goals?
What is Altruism?
Altruism at its core is simply the selfless regard for or devotion for the welfare of others, it usually involves behaviors or decisions that are not beneficial and may even be harmful but it helps the general well-being of those around them. A great example of altruist behavior in the business world is Warren Buffet giving away his billions of dollars to the betterment of humanity through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. How is this altruistic? Well, the selfish response would be to keep that in trusts so that every Buffet for the next thousand years or more can live the life of a GOD, which would dramatically increase their reproductive success in this world given the right circumstances. He could also just cash in all his stocks and build a base on the moon if he so desired! I believe this is also a fantastic act of altruism because he is giving to a cause that will benefit millions of people around the world. His legacy won’t be a moon base but allowing people to get surgeries so they can see again, giving opportunity to those born in the worst of circumstances and best of all, he is still alive to see how his vast wealth benefits others!
Another great example of altruist behavior is Mother Teresa who gave every part of her being to fulfilling her mission to help those less fortunate then her even while she had great doubts about the existence of God throughout her career. She was giving back to the human race even though she suffered severe bouts of depression, gave up on her reproductive success to pass on her genes and lived a rather difficult life.
Are only humans capable of Altruism?
The strict definition of altruism is giving of oneself to better your species (reading between the lines: this is only a human trait) but I believe this is too narrow a definition, as we all share this planet with one another,. Altruism, to me indicates giving of oneself for the betterment of our entire ecosystem. I found this great example to illustrate this case, a baby duck feeding carp! You can’t get more altruist then that… the baby duck is giving food to a fish! I am sure it isn’t a conscious decision to give away food but regardless, putting a human emotion onto non-human species can’t be ignored, even if it’s a big no-no to the scientifically educated.
Altruism as a business model
Of course, there is also non-profit foundations and organizations all around the world where the business model is to HELP mankind instead of trying to derive a profit from it. Great examples are UNICEF (a United Nations Organization), Mozilla Foundation (firefox, thunderbird), Craiglist (run by Craig Newmark who has refused too many buyout opportunities to count), NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations)that work where even governments won’t step foot in. I could list probably hundreds of thousands of these type of organizations but suffice it to say, altruism as a business model is alive and doing very well!
Love of Altruism
If you love to help others, and derive great pleasure from it… is it still altruism? Why the heck not? I say, if you can create a profitable business that help better the lives of those around the world, why not. Just because you derive great pleasure from doing these types of activities doesn’t lessen the selflessness of an act.
The Bottom Line
Altruism is contagious among the right people, why not begin with yourself?
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