Altruism is subjective, anamorphic
Genocide is a social adaptation that observably marches in lockstep with altruism. Altruism itself is variously redefined by collectivists–especially religious conservatives–to infuse it with an odor of scientific eugenics.
This manufactured reaction dates back to Richard Dawkins’ “The Selfish Gene.” The book’s introduction humbly apologizes for unwittingly validating the individualist view of life and survival, especially the way virtue ethics considers values or goodness. Fourteen years before The Selfish Gene, similar ethical conclusions were advanced in Atlas Shrugged, a book organized mysticism struggled to pretend never existed in much the way The Party members in Orwell’s novel 1984 struggled to believe an apostate or “unperson” had never existed. Dawkins, a scientist, was harder to ignore, so distortion was relied on instead.
It is informative that since Dawkins’ writings, the idea of altruists as a race that reproduces sexually is again advanced by religious conservatives as solemnly as though it were a new argument. Bonobo monkeys and other instinctual beasts incapable of conceptual thought are offered by religious conservatives as examples that “prove” that altruism–acting sacrificially to benefit others, not self–is by Revealed ipso facto Definition “the” Good. A reinforcing example is the assertion that female Bonobo monkeys won’t copulate with non-sacrificial males. Leaving aside the yearning for female monkeys as the last possible partners girl-bullying brutes can hope for, the net appeal is to collectivist reproduction increasing the subspecies. Each Selfish Gene applies game theory to survival of the gene pool as accurately as physical phenomena apply efficient paths to conservation of energy transitions.
Yet genes lack the intelligence or moral decision making ability to avoid Malthusian disasters such as occur when population exceeds food supply. Whether conservatives also lack this discernment or simply rely on the Rapture’s host of angels lifting them bodily from the jaws of overpopulation crises leading to war, etc. is not obvious. One possibility is that control over children offers organized mysticism the opportunity to cripple young minds through conditioning and indoctrination. After all, in pre-1911 China, girls were encouraged to cripple themselves by binding their own feet, and actually thought this a “good” thing according to consensus and generally accepted community standards.
Bound feet, crippled from early childhood per custom
The Conservative theory is a rewarming of the old Race Suicide view held by Roosevelt Republicans in 1906. The argument was structured in much the same way Lutheran and Papist nationalsocialism characterized “juden” in Germany’s Altruria as an invasive species that cannot be “assimilated” and must instead, regretfully and with heavy heart, be exterminated like so many Apaches or Comanches. From Adolf Hitler’s Theodoric struggle to use genocide for altruist collectivist eugenics, religious conservatism has lately evolved to Trump’s offer to extirpate the families of unappreciative Semitic tribesmen whose Sharia jurisdictions Christians so eagerly tax us to bomb.
Over a century later mystical ideologues STILL Stand at Armageddon Doing Battle For The Lord, exactly like the fanatical Mohammedans of similar ideology. This is the key difference between religious socialism and individualism. Communists and nationalsocialists never tire of each declaring the other are “not really” altruists. Yet both clearly value coercion, sacrifice, death in their fundamental manifestos. This is a subjective, distorted, unreliable moral compass pointing in the wrong direction in all cases.
Letting these twin variants of the rejection of reason replace science, philosophy–especially ethics–would be suicidal. Fortunately it isn’t happening. The genocidal rampages of communo-fascist socialism in Germany and Russia were as vivid an object lesson as the amok berserker hijackings into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Communist vote shares in elections are falling like membership in mystical congregations. The Libertarian party is gaining votes and membership while the looter parties are shrinking. You can help by studying virtue ethics, voting and making a small donation to the Libertarian Party.
Was this exposition of a commonly-used misdirection into error useful? Remember this when you want an error-free translation of important legal documents. My other blog is in Portuguese.
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