I always just assumed we tried to be decent to each other because that's just simple, human decency. It's a way many of us were taught when we were growing up.
In classical economics, we're all supposed to be continuously maximizing our own economic well-being. "Altruism, as an economic principle, refers to the willingness of an individual to incur a cost for the benefit of another. This concept challenges traditional economic models that assume self-interest as the primary motivator of human behavior"
In the small stupid town I live in on the Gingham Coast, which is more like 1960s "Leave it to Beaver"-ville than much of America, my blood boils almost every day. Altruism is gone.
Specifically, though there are dozens of kids running around my seaside neighborhood and old fat men like me walking their dogs in the street (there are no sidewalks) the giant pick-ups that everyone seems to own no longer stop at stop signs.
Sure, there's no reason to. It does you no good. It only helps others. As amerikans we reject doing others good. We accept only that which helps us.
In many cases, as Phelps writes above, being altruistic--doing something simply for the good of others is not worth the cost. You see the everywhere. Turnstile jumping. Tax avoidance. Cutting in line. You see it both micro--the examples above, and macro--the examples below.
As former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “We can either have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few. But we can’t have both."
If you make around $100,000 a year in New York state, your "true" tax rate is close to 27 percent, roughly 800 percent higher than the rate paid by the 25 richest Americans.
Altruism, that is, paying tax provides an expected gain for all. It is, therefore, to be shunned.
Phelps writes the sentence that's motivated this post. One that has me thinking about advertising and the advertising world we live in.
In the small stupid town I live in on the Gingham Coast, which is more like 1960s "Leave it to Beaver"-ville than much of America, my blood boils almost every day. Altruism is gone.
Specifically, though there are dozens of kids running around my seaside neighborhood and old fat men like me walking their dogs in the street (there are no sidewalks) the giant pick-ups that everyone seems to own no longer stop at stop signs.
Sure, there's no reason to. It does you no good. It only helps others. As amerikans we reject doing others good. We accept only that which helps us.
Kindness is a sucker's game.
Up here traffic is sparse. You can see around the corner. So no one stops. Just like no one anymore uses a turn signal or comes close to obeying any speed limits.
In many cases, as Phelps writes above, being altruistic--doing something simply for the good of others is not worth the cost. You see the everywhere. Turnstile jumping. Tax avoidance. Cutting in line. You see it both micro--the examples above, and macro--the examples below.
As former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “We can either have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few. But we can’t have both."
To that point:
Unfortunately yet naturally, I find an advertising point in all this.
I wonder if as an industry we've started behaving like the ads we create should do good only for us as individuals and to the hell with clients and the public.
That's a cost we no longer want to pay.
The hard work of learning about a product, why it's better, how it helps people. Why it's good and useful.
I don't see work that does "good" anymore.
Yes, work for good causes. But that's different.
I'm talking about altruistic work. That does good for viewers. That does good for the brand. Then, and only then, does good for the creative matter.
Yes, work for good causes. But that's different.
I'm talking about altruistic work. That does good for viewers. That does good for the brand. Then, and only then, does good for the creative matter.
Altruistic advertising.
It might just sell.
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