Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World

by Matthieu Ricard

Monsanto has embodied institutionalized selfishness for almost a century, and because of that deserves special mention.

“If we are to bring about change that results in an increase in altruism, it must be selective, focused on specific goals, and linked to actions which have impacts and which form part of a social movement.”

I tend to agree but I think competition does motivate some people to improve themselves.

Teamwork is particularly undermined by individual incentives and bonus schemes. On the other hand, rewarding the performance of the team as a whole encourages cooperation and improves results.

This seems at odds with the first sentence in this section.

the majority’s trust and goodwill erodes when a minority abuses the system for its own profit, harming the community as a whole. This is unfortunately what happens in an economic system that grants total freedom to unscrupulous speculators. It is also the consequence of wholesale deregulation of financial systems.

Also known as Liberal Arts

You'd be surprised

To me it's less gratitude and more of a sense of responsibility.

The best results arise from groups that are mixed in terms of skills, sex, cultural background, and motivation levels.

That's a neo-liberal idea?

More than global warming?

The wealthiest people can afford skillful lawyers who show them various ways to avoid taxes and deduct considerable sums from their tax returns,

Without condoning the imposition of sterilizing constraints on the spirit of enterprise, innovation, and prosperity, economic regulation must prevent those driven solely by self-interest from taking advantage of the intricacies of the financial system to siphon off a disproportionate amount of resources.

if the doctrine of economic laissez-faire—a term dear to philosopher Ayn Rand—had been submitted to the rigors of scientific and empirical research, it would have been rejected a long time ago.

the fairness of supply and demand, so dear to classical economists, is nothing but a myth, since we live in a world where a vast number of needs remain unsatisfied, and in particular where the investment required to eradicate poverty and respond to the challenges of global warming is lacking.

Given that the economy was stagnant under Jimmy Carter and after de-reulation the economy as a whole did improve, I wonder what should have been done instead.

the rich are getting richer and that their wealth doesn’t trickle down. In fact it trickles up.

“Something has happened to our sense of values, when the ends of making more money justifies the means, which in the US subprime crisis meant exploiting the poorest and least-educated among us.”

Donald Trump embodies this by refusing to pay workers on his properties, inviting them to instead sue him and settle for much less money.

To break this vicious cycle, the privileged must not only accept the need to fix inequality, but also want to achieve this without hoping for anything other than improving the lives of other people.

This is true for equality in the U.S. too. Whites must accept a reduction in privileges.

I imagine that the possibility that someone would pull out a gun and shoot you keeps many people from acting altruisticly.

Some beneficial companies are not as obviously beneficial.

How would something like this be implemented?What would it look like?

Yusuke Saraya founded Saraya Limited, a prosperous company selling 99.9% biodegradable detergents.

impact investing is a new investment model whose primary objective is to respond to a social or environmental need,

I find that this is not true for me. I am happier with "things". Though I understand the need to not be too busy and focus on things that are important.

I agree that it has to stop somewhere. You can't necessarily do more and more you're whole life.

compulsive consumers would be better off pursuing experiences rather than material goods, using their money to benefit others instead of themselves,

At the rate things are going, in Africa in 2050 there will be a 50% to 80% probability that the following summer will be the hottest on record

I thought we already broke this record.

This is most certainly a low estimate. I would say about one billion

Let’s imagine that a few thousand individuals decide on the fate of 7 billion others, without consulting them or worrying about their aspirations.

Yet is this not what we are doing now in deciding the fate of future generations?

This feels like it is framed wrong. We have a responsibility to humanity. The human race itself and it's preservation.

It is perfectly normal for us not to ransack the house that we intend to bequeath to our grandchildren. Why not grant the same attention to the future inhabitants of the planet?

Around 60% of people follow prevailing trends and opinion leaders, something that highlights the power of the herd instinct in humans. These “followers” are also “conditional cooperators”: they are ready to contribute to the public good on the condition that everyone else does likewise.

“history is a race between education and catastrophe.”

There is no way, therefore, that we can conceive of an “ideal state” for a planet that is constantly evolving.

Windand solar power would change weather patterns and so probably would not ne unlimited.

Stern and others predict that more than 200 million people will be displaced by 2050 because of climate change.

the current environmental costs linked to economic growth exceed the profit it generates: beyond a certain threshold, economic growth, which neglects to factor in the harm it causes as an item on its balance sheet, actually makes us poorer instead of richer.

We have to remember that a non trivial number of people don't actually think that things like social inequality are bad.

the precious free time that we need to meditate, garden, and socialize with family and friends

I dont think machines and man-madematerials need to need to be at odds with well-being.

Recently, some European countries, including Italy, decided to include drug and human trafficking in their GDP, even though these are clearly deeply damaging to the fabric of society.

Nationalism is to nations what individualism is to individuals.

“sustainable economic integration requires that the populations reap the benefits, that the states agree on the objectives, and that the governing institutions are perceived as legitimate.”

Certain governments in Asia have maintained that the human rights criteria set out in the Universal Declaration were asserted by the West and that they cannot be applied in Asia or other parts of the developing world

This is the position of members of Nippon-kaigi if I'm not mistaken.

I object a bit to the noble savage sentiment here.

This is going to sound understandably scary to some people. esp. minorities

yah, there are systems like this in Japan too and it doesn't work well.