Altruism and helping others: what are your thoughts?

Charles Lopez3 said:Spot on.
As long as there’s this lingering sense of "hope,"
nothing ever actually changes for the better,
and time just slips right through our fingers.

See, hope is a hell of a tool,
it's basically what keeps these crooked politicians in power,
along with all the shady institutions and the entire system.

I mean, why do you think the ultra-wealthy love playing the "humanitarian" card so much?
They keep the people they're ripping off feeling hopeful,
all while slashing their own taxes
and soaking up all the good press like they're saints.
It's pretty damn calculated.☕

When Pandora opened her box, all the evils escaped, leaving nothing behind but hope. In other words, hope is what lingers once the world has already been overrun by chaos—and that's exactly when you should be fighting back. It's like the old saying goes: things have always been some way, and they'll always be some way. If there were never any change, nothing would ever exist at all. Change is the only constant, whether we want it or not.

When a person does something kind for someone else, they often feel good about themselves—and frankly, they do it precisely because that feeling is the reward. Take, for instance, why you wouldn't turn down a gift from a donor. You wouldn't want to offend them, and more importantly, you wouldn't want them to feel redundant. Humans have this innate, driving need to be useful, to feel like they matter. So, by accepting that gift, you’re actually doing them a favor by validating their sense of worth. It’s the exact same deal with altruists. They chase that "selfless" high, performing acts of charity just to maintain that internal glow. To put it bluntly, altruists are just addicts chasing a dopamine hit through good deeds. 👍

Casey Gomez said:When a person does something kind for someone else, they often feel good about themselves—and frankly, they do it precisely because that feeling is the reward. Take, for instance, why you wouldn't turn down a gift from a donor. You wouldn't want to offend them, and more importantly, you wouldn't want them to feel redundant. Humans have this innate, driving need to be useful, to feel like they matter. So, by accepting that gift, you’re actually doing them a favor by validating their sense of worth. It’s the exact same deal with altruists. They chase that "selfless" high, performing acts of charity just to maintain that internal glow. To put it bluntly, altruists are just addicts chasing a dopamine hit through good deeds. 👍

A rare display of insight and an understanding of human psychology!

In America today, the most famous and popular "junkies" in this sense would likely be the American Mountain Rescue Association who describe themselves on their website with such unashamed, almost neurotic detail:"The American Mountain Rescue Association is a national, volunteer-based, professional, humanitarian, and non-partisan organization of public importance. Our core objectives include accident prevention, search and rescue operations, and providing first medical aid in mountainous regions and other inaccessible areas during emergencies—situations where specialized expertise and technical rescue equipment are required to preserve human life, health, and property."

While the mountain rescuers still have the chance to actually enjoy nature and the high altitudes, there are also altruists and humanitarians who are simply incorrigible masochists—this second famous type of addiction is, unfortunately, also linked to pyromania, and they truly are beyond help, and perhaps always were—I am talking about the well-known volunteer fire departments: , a very old and deeply rooted addiction that originally crossed over from abroad.

The third group I’d mention was founded during wartime; we're talking about international, battle-hardened addicts operating under the double-edged symbolic name "Red Cross"—clearly a sign of those communist Christians, which gives them an ideological edge, despite the fact that the founder was a Swiss person, supposedly neutral: "Swiss person Jean-Henry Dunant (May 8, 1828, Geneva – October 30, 1910, Heiden) found himself on June 24, 1859, on the battlefield near Solferino, witnessing the suffering, agony, and death of thousands of soldiers. Following the battle between the Austrian and Franco-Sardinian armies, 40,000 wounded and dead soldiers were left on the field. Existing medical services lacked the personnel and material resources to assist everyone. With the help of local villagers, Dunant organized aid for the wounded in nearby churches and homes, regardless of which side they fought on, repeating the sentiment that all people are brothers (Italian: 'Siamo tutti fratelli')."
I implore you—especially children, women, and those with weaker nerves—to stay away from this page:

"Quote:"

Jonathan Brooks8 said:At its core, this is a question of whether hope even exists anymore. If someone isn't responsible for a massive catastrophe and lacks the power to fix it, is that excuse sufficient to justify ignoring the smaller problems they *can* actually solve? If there is no prospect of resolving the grand conflict, should we still bother providing aid just to prove we are trying? That is how the "average American" might view it.

Politicians, however, aren't permitted to think like the average citizen—not with their "heavy responsibilities" or "grave seriousness." Since they operate as mere "pragmatists," the individual must step up and shoulder their own "small responsibility."

Which means the only real criticism we could level at volunteers and humanitarian workers is that they shouldn't allow hope itself to be extinguished—I realize how poetic that sounds, but frankly, I don't care.

Otherwise, the drivers behind this crisis aren't accidental; they are tectonic and political in nature—at least, that's how it appears to me...

If that "little" issue can actually be fixed... though even in cases involving refugees—or maybe just economic migrants—it’s usually impossible to tell. You can toss some cash at a charity to ease your own conscience, sure, but getting real, unmediated contact with them? Seems pretty much impossible to me. Maybe some outlier will totally flip their life upside down—like, actually head out to the US-Mexico border to a massive migrant camp just to try and meet the people they're helping—but those are rare exceptions that just get swallowed up by the media flood on our screens.

Look, this isn't even the same deal as those floods back in May last year—and honestly, I actually feel for those people and get what they went through.
I feel way closer to those friends now—you know, the ones whose homes were actually on the line back then—and I ended up helping out a bunch of other people through them too.

Is that actually bad—or just selfish?
"Quote:"

Politicians can't wrap their heads around how a regular person thinks—they're too busy hiding behind all that "huge responsibility" and "extreme seriousness" nonsense. Since they claim to be the "practical experts," it’s on us—the actual people—to step up and take ownership of our own little slice of responsibility. Honestly, the only thing you could even possibly gripe about regarding volunteers and humanitarian workers is that they won't let hope die.Look, I know that sounds all poetic and stuff—but honestly? I couldn't care less.

Look, we really shouldn't be this cynical—if I ever actually run into one of those volunteers, there's no way I'm laughing at them, even in my head, given everything they do...
"Quote:"

Look, the reasons behind this whole crisis aren't just random accidents—it’s deep-seated, tectonic-level politics. That’s how it looks from where I’m sitting...

Hell no, they aren't.
For the people who actually engineered this crisis, it’s a total win-win—doesn't matter how "regular" folks across America react. I mentioned the possibility of a referendum over on the Politics thread regarding the immigrant issue, though I don't see that ever actually happening here in the States.

Look, my bad again for blowing up a few posts back—that’s seriously not how I usually roll on this forum...

Casey Gomez said:When a person does something kind for someone else, they often feel good about themselves—and frankly, they do it precisely because that feeling is the reward. Take, for instance, why you wouldn't turn down a gift from a donor. You wouldn't want to offend them, and more importantly, you wouldn't want them to feel redundant. Humans have this innate, driving need to be useful, to feel like they matter. So, by accepting that gift, you’re actually doing them a favor by validating their sense of worth. It’s the exact same deal with altruists. They chase that "selfless" high, performing acts of charity just to maintain that internal glow. To put it bluntly, altruists are just addicts chasing a dopamine hit through good deeds. 👍

If it feels like someone is trying to buy us off with "gifts"—expecting something morally shady in return (whether right now or down the road)—then we say no, and let the donor be insulted.
If we actually have any self-respect and aren't just mindless drones.
And look, feeling empathy or standing in solidarity isn't a crime. Maybe one day it'll pay off... from someone... somehow.

Casey Gomez said:When a person does something kind for someone else, they often feel good about themselves—and frankly, they do it precisely because that feeling is the reward. Take, for instance, why you wouldn't turn down a gift from a donor. You wouldn't want to offend them, and more importantly, you wouldn't want them to feel redundant. Humans have this innate, driving need to be useful, to feel like they matter. So, by accepting that gift, you’re actually doing them a favor by validating their sense of worth. It’s the exact same deal with altruists. They chase that "selfless" high, performing acts of charity just to maintain that internal glow. To put it bluntly, altruists are just addicts chasing a dopamine hit through good deeds. 👍

Exactly. People are completely hardwired that way. Selfishness and selflessness are just two different lines of code in the same program.

• Link:
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZzcY7ASQno

Jonathan Brooks8 said:A rare display of insight and an understanding of human psychology!

In America today, the most famous and popular "junkies" in this sense would likely be the American Mountain Rescue Association who describe themselves on their website with such unashamed, almost neurotic detail:"The American Mountain Rescue Association is a national, volunteer-based, professional, humanitarian, and non-partisan organization of public importance. Our core objectives include accident prevention, search and rescue operations, and providing first medical aid in mountainous regions and other inaccessible areas during emergencies—situations where specialized expertise and technical rescue equipment are required to preserve human life, health, and property."

While the mountain rescuers still have the chance to actually enjoy nature and the high altitudes, there are also altruists and humanitarians who are simply incorrigible masochists—this second famous type of addiction is, unfortunately, also linked to pyromania, and they truly are beyond help, and perhaps always were—I am talking about the well-known volunteer fire departments: , a very old and deeply rooted addiction that originally crossed over from abroad.

The third group I’d mention was founded during wartime; we're talking about international, battle-hardened addicts operating under the double-edged symbolic name "Red Cross"—clearly a sign of those communist Christians, which gives them an ideological edge, despite the fact that the founder was a Swiss person, supposedly neutral: "Swiss person Jean-Henry Dunant (May 8, 1828, Geneva – October 30, 1910, Heiden) found himself on June 24, 1859, on the battlefield near Solferino, witnessing the suffering, agony, and death of thousands of soldiers. Following the battle between the Austrian and Franco-Sardinian armies, 40,000 wounded and dead soldiers were left on the field. Existing medical services lacked the personnel and material resources to assist everyone. With the help of local villagers, Dunant organized aid for the wounded in nearby churches and homes, regardless of which side they fought on, repeating the sentiment that all people are brothers (Italian: 'Siamo tutti fratelli')."
I implore you—especially children, women, and those with weaker nerves—to stay away from this page:

Oh sure, what an absolute burden that must be for you...

Lisa Jackson7 said:If it feels like someone is trying to buy us off with "gifts"—expecting something morally shady in return (whether right now or down the road)—then we say no, and let the donor be insulted.
If we actually have any self-respect and aren't just mindless drones.
And look, feeling empathy or standing in solidarity isn't a crime. Maybe one day it'll pay off... from someone... somehow.

It comes down to the fundamental human drive to give and receive. (And no, I'm not talking about anything kinky here). It’s just how we function in this age of information and matter. It's what makes us social creatures. Just as people have a drive to take—which is especially pronounced when it comes to power—altruists simply have a more heightened drive to give, whether through time or resources. If those needs aren't met, a person suffers.😳

Megan Green12 said:Exactly. People are completely hardwired that way. Selfishness and selflessness are just two different lines of code in the same program.

😱
Pure nihilist. ☕

Lisa Jackson7 said:"Quote:"

If that "little" issue can actually be fixed... though even in cases involving refugees—or maybe just economic migrants—it’s usually impossible to tell. You can toss some cash at a charity to ease your own conscience, sure, but getting real, unmediated contact with them? Seems pretty much impossible to me. Maybe some outlier will totally flip their life upside down—like, actually head out to the US-Mexico border to a massive migrant camp just to try and meet the people they're helping—but those are rare exceptions that just get swallowed up by the media flood on our screens.

Look, this isn't even the same deal as those floods back in May last year—and honestly, I actually feel for those people and get what they went through.
I feel way closer to those friends now—you know, the ones whose homes were actually on the line back then—and I ended up helping out a bunch of other people through them too.

Is that actually bad—or just selfish?
"Quote:"

Politicians can't wrap their heads around how a regular person thinks—they're too busy hiding behind all that "huge responsibility" and "extreme seriousness" nonsense. Since they claim to be the "practical experts," it’s on us—the actual people—to step up and take ownership of our own little slice of responsibility. Honestly, the only thing you could even possibly gripe about regarding volunteers and humanitarian workers is that they won't let hope die.Look, I know that sounds all poetic and stuff—but honestly? I couldn't care less.

Look, we really shouldn't be this cynical—if I ever actually run into one of those volunteers, there's no way I'm laughing at them, even in my head, given everything they do...
"Quote:"

Look, the reasons behind this whole crisis aren't just random accidents—it’s deep-seated, tectonic-level politics. That’s how it looks from where I’m sitting...

Hell no, they aren't.
For the people who actually engineered this crisis, it’s a total win-win—doesn't matter how "regular" folks across America react. I mentioned the possibility of a referendum over on the Politics thread regarding the immigrant issue, though I don't see that ever actually happening here in the States.

Look, my bad again for blowing up a few posts back—that’s seriously not how I usually roll on this forum...

No, I don't think it's selfish; I think it’s perfectly natural. It is to be expected that you will react to a crisis based on how physically and emotionally close it is to you.
That is why the reactions of those in direct contact with the migrants are so vital—and there are plenty of such contacts along the migration route.

You have one type of contact: government representatives—police, military. Then there is the local population, followed by smugglers, the mafia, and others who see this situation as an opportunity for profit. The context here is both political and humanitarian.

We see that the political authorities in various European Union and non-EU countries are behaving inconsistently; they lack a unified policy. This total lack of coordination and the resulting paralysis is most evident in the European Commission and the highest EU forums, because their political response remains tethered to the useless and counterproductive "Dublin Protocol" and previously agreed-upon asylum policies. Based on public statements and the construction of walls on the Canadian border near Mexico, it seems Canada, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland—acting as the outer perimeter for the older EU members—are preparing to step into the role of the enforcers, essentially acting as a sanitary cordon.

I call it a failure of coordination because I believe they are causing political damage that indirectly hurts all of us living in Europe, both now and in the future. Not to mention that their actions are inhumane and run contrary to their own established principles regarding the protection and reception of war-torn populations, effectively creating the conditions for entirely new conflicts.

In short, if the European Union truly wants to establish control over migration and refugee intake, they should be doing it in Greece and Turkey by opening and funding reception camps. They need to deploy professionals—doctors, social workers, psychologists—to protect the refugees, followed by controlled transport to the specific countries where asylum or temporary refuge has been granted. That would be the antithesis of this current chaos.

In the midst of all this present chaos, the real heroes are the volunteers working locally—some organized through groups like the Red Cross, and others acting spontaneously as part of the local communities along the migration route. They are doing this despite, and sometimes even in opposition to, official migration policy, thereby defending the very conscience of humanity... that was my point...

cestar said:And hey, sorry again about how I reacted a few posts back—that’s really not how I usually carry myself on this forum...

Honestly, I'm not even kidding when I say I didn't notice anything worth an apology. You're being way too hard on yourself...

Casey Gomez said:Oh sure, what an absolute burden that must be for you...

It comes down to the fundamental human drive to give and receive. (And no, I'm not talking about anything kinky here). It’s just how we function in this age of information and matter. It's what makes us social creatures. Just as people have a drive to take—which is especially pronounced when it comes to power—altruists simply have a more heightened drive to give, whether through time or resources. If those needs aren't met, a person suffers.😳

😱
Pure nihilist. ☕
😱
Pure nihilist. ☕
Which makes perfect sense if you realize that every single healthy cell making up our bodies operates on that exact same principle. It’s what keeps us alive.

Casey Gomez said:Oh sure, what an absolute burden that must be for you...

It comes down to the fundamental human drive to give and receive. (And no, I'm not talking about anything kinky here). It’s just how we function in this age of information and matter. It's what makes us social creatures. Just as people have a drive to take—which is especially pronounced when it comes to power—altruists simply have a more heightened drive to give, whether through time or resources. If those needs aren't met, a person suffers.😳

😱
Pure nihilist. ☕
😱
Pure nihilist. ☕
Look, if we stop making that messy comparison between a virtue and a vice, it's worth noting that the "average" behavior in modern American cities isn't exactly a gold standard for measuring true character.

I honestly can’t help but feel like I might be overthinking things here, but there’s just something about how this whole situation is unfolding that feels incredibly heavy, almost like we’re watching a slow-motion train wreck where everyone is too busy arguing about the mechanics of the engine to notice the tracks have already been pulled up. It really makes you wonder if anyone is actually listening to the underlying concerns being raised, because it feels like we’re all just shouting into a void while the actual substance of the debate gets lost in the noise, and frankly, it’s a little exhausting to try and make sense of it all when the goalposts seem to shift every single time we get close to finding some kind of common ground.

I’m honestly feeling a little out of my depth here, but I just had this sudden, overwhelming thought about how much everything seems to be shifting under our feet lately. It feels like we're all just trying to navigate this massive, complicated web of changes without a clear map, doesn't it? I know I might be overthinking things—and I definitely have a tendency to do that—but there's just something about the way the current landscape is evolving that feels incredibly heavy and significant all at once. kaže: If that "little" issue can actually be solved... though even then, when you’re dealing with refugees—or maybe just economic migrants, since it's honestly hard to tell sometimes—it feels like a lost cause. You can always write a check just to ease your own conscience, I suppose, but finding some genuine, unmediated connection with these people seems like an impossible task to me. Maybe there's some soul out there who will completely upend their entire life, pack up, and head straight to a massive refugee camp on the US-Mexico border just to try and offer some help and actually look the people they're helping in the eye.

We don't need to be heading all the way down to the border between Jordan and Syria to deal with this, because honestly, the refugees are already here on our doorstep, and that means we actually have a real chance to step up and help them right where they are, close to home.
But honestly, what we’re seeing right now with all these refugees arriving near our borders is just devastating, because it feels like the darkest kind of fascism is being stirred up in people's hearts. I truly believe there's a way to help fight this, and that starts with refusing to stay silent when we see such blatant evil unfolding right in front of us. You mentioned certain media outlets—like how you can see flashes of outright fascism bleeding through their editorial stances—and it really makes me feel like we simply can't afford to sit idly by or keep quiet when faced with that kind of malice.

There’s another thread going around discussing human rights and all the fundamental liberties every person ought to possess—and honestly, everything has been laid out so perfectly there that I can’t think of a single right that hasn't already been covered. But it gets me thinking about something a bit more complicated: does a person also have the right to remain silent in the face of evil? Is there a right to let one's own fear or mere conformity speak up instead of a moral conscience, or even a right to be tolerant toward something inherently wicked?

I honestly don't know if I can even find the right way to put this into words without sounding like I'm overthinking things, but I really feel like we need to take a moment to look at what’s actually happening here because everything feels so incredibly heavy lately. It seems like every time I turn around, there's some new development in the political landscape that just leaves me feeling a little bit lost and wondering where we all stand, though I suppose that's just part of being an engaged citizen in a country as complicated as ours. I was reading through some discussions earlier, and when I saw what steelridge58 had to say, it really hit home for me how much we're all struggling to make sense of these shifting tides in American politics. It’s easy to get cynical, and maybe I'm being a bit too earnest for my own good, but I truly believe that if we don't stop to have these long, rambling conversations about our shared future, we're going to lose sight of the very thing that makes this nation worth fighting for in the first place.

Look, I have to be honest, this whole situation just isn't the same thing as those devastating floods we dealt with back in May of last year—and honestly, I feel like I can relate to those folks and truly understand their struggle on a much deeper level. I feel this even deeper connection with my friends who were watching their homes being threatened back then, and because of that, I ended up doing what little I could to help out others as well.

It isn’t just about being identical, because the whole issue regarding Arab refugees actually reveals two other pretty sinister layers to the problem—beyond the massive, widespread lack of basic understanding about what it even means to be a refugee in the first place (which, if you look at some of those more disgraceful examples out there, shows that you don't actually need to have lived through being a refugee to claim you understand the concept). On top of that confusion, we're dealing with racism, religious egoism, reactionism, and fascism, which, judging by his own rhetoric, seems to be perfectly embodied by a true-blooded fascist like Viktor Orbán.

I honestly don't know how I can even begin to wrap my head around this whole situation, but I feel like we really need to take a moment to sit down and actually look at what’s happening right in front of us. It feels like everything is moving so fast lately, almost too fast to process, and I sometimes find myself tripping over my own feet just trying to keep up with the sheer scale of it all, but I truly believe there's something important here that we shouldn't just gloss over.

For the people who actually engineered this crisis, they’ve managed to engineer a total win-win situation, regardless of how the average person across America decides to react. I was just talking about the whole immigration mess over on Politics, and I even brought up the possibility of holding a national referendum, though I honestly don't see that ever becoming a reality here in the States.

I’m not entirely sure which referendum people are buzzing about, but I feel pretty strongly that fundamental human rights shouldn't be subject to a popular vote. We aren't talking about economic migrants looking for a better paycheck or a step up in life; we are talking about refugees—people who have been forced to flee their homes to escape the horrors of war just to survive and find a shred of safety somewhere else.
At the end of the day, I really feel like America should step up and take its fair share of refugees according to the EU's framework, because honestly, how those people are received in their daily lives—how they’re treated by regular folks in the streets—is going to dictate whether they actually feel welcome and safe within the borders of Europe, and that includes right here in the States.