ALTRUISM ECONOMICALLY CONSIDERED. 



59 



self, but the victorious plaintiff has become a meaner man, and 

 will bring new suits at the earliest opportunity ; if not upon this, 

 upon some other man whom he thinks he can browbeat, and there 

 are plenty of lawyers who will help him do so. He who sells all 

 he has and gives to the poor, may, if he is very badly eaten up 

 with greed for money, discipline himself in the right direction, 

 but in selling all he deprives himself of the means of self-sup- 

 port in sickness and endangers the care of his family. But all 

 this subjective wrong might be perpetrated to curb a grasping 

 spirit through the loss of property. That, however, which he had 

 no right to do he has done. He has pauperized the poor. The 

 evil inflicted upon scores, and perhaps hundreds, is in their lessen- 

 ing of self-respect, the cultivation of indolence, the enfeebling of 

 their already weak determinations, the putting further away of 

 that day when the poor shall be properly paid for their work, and 

 the fostering of that reckless spirit, " The world owes me a living, 

 and I am going to have it." If the next rich man does not sell 

 out and distribute soon enough, they will thirst for his riches — 

 perhaps for his blood. If some of his wealth is ill-gotten, as is 

 the case with many rich men, they will consider it all so. In such 

 soil the seeds of communism grow. The advocates of anarchy and 

 the haters of government are found always among the poor. 



Now note this most remarkable fact — that every single precept 

 pointing to non-resistance and self-abnegation, while subjectively 

 attractive, ignores the objective and ultimate effect ; that is, they 

 all seem to be of benefit to the doer, but make not an iota of dis- 

 crimination as to the effect upon others ; while, in fact, as history 

 has shown, and as we are now beginning to know, both are 

 injured ; but the greatest harm is done to the supiDosed bene- 

 ficiaries. 



Self-abnegation is thus as far from virtue as selfishness. The 

 golden mean lies between, where our egoism benefits us but does 

 not sting another, and where our altruism benefits others in its 

 ultimate effects without sapping their or our own welfare. Self- 

 ishness is short-sighted gratification of base impulses. Self-abne- 

 gation is short-sighted gratification of benevolent impulses. Both 

 are impulsive, both are short-sighted, and both inflict evil upon 

 others. 



A more moderate and acceptable form of altruism goes under 

 the names of charity and benevolence. They are also valuable in 

 curbing the spirit of egoism, and have made many people, both 

 givers and recipients, happy for the time being. " To do good 

 and to distribute forget not, for with such offerings the Lord is 

 well pleased." Again, no discrimination is made as to the objects 

 of charity and of benevolence, nor as to the remote and real effects 

 of such action. It seems to have been thus far assumed that no 



