Education, ignorance and the American way

Friday, April 23, 2004

Americans, by and large, consider themselves to be a kindly, charitable people, always ready to come to the aid of the less fortunate or the underdog. We see this humanitarian spirit surface in a variety of ways but especially during a time of crisis. Whenever tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes strike, people from all walks of life and all parts of the country are mobilized into action. We send money or clothing or food and, sometimes, go ourselves to the stricken areas to volunteer our services to do anything that is needed. The only thing we hope to get out of this volunteerism is the return of the favor if anything disastrous ever happens to us. So, even though our motives are not entirely altruistic, they're close enough. I've never been sure there is such a thing as a wholly altruistic act to begin with. Even those who donate huge sums of money anonymously to charities and non-profit organizations receive a good feeling about what they've done. And a good feeling is receiving something back in return.

To Read More
Subscribe Sign In
Continue reading with a subscription
Subscription options