In defence of altruism
by Silvia Guglielmi
19/06/09
In an article published this week Matthew Taylor wrote that ‘we live in a time of profound social pessimism [where] there is a widening gulf between our view of ourselves and of society at large.’ He is absolutely right. When he continues by saying that we are witnessing a ‘retreat of society in the face of rampant individualism’, he is only half right.
On Tuesday 23 June 2009, Demos will launch the publication of Wishful Thinking, which interrogates Britain’s dreams and aspirations. Based on nine months of research in communities across the UK, the report uncovers a society of individuals who have simple and pragmatic personal aspirations, but express a desire for large-scale global change. In agreeing with Taylor’s article, Demos’ report highlights the rupture between individuals’ own lives (overwhelmingly positive) versus the views on the world out there—i.e. communities, nation and globe (overwhelmingly nasty).
However, I’d like to offer another explanation for the underlying reasons of this emerging trend, which does not blame ‘rampant individualism’. Through in-depth interviews we probed the UK public to tell us their three wishes, as if a genie appeared before them. Over 33 percent of wishes expressed a desire for a better world. People do not appear to be individualistic—contrarily, they are sick of warfare, starving children and the abuse of our environment. The world appears to be a hostile place for many remote people and the British public acknowledges this.
Take international aid, for instance. Countless interviewees (of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds) expressed a profound desire to eradicate global hunger or, at the very least, reduce it. Malnutrition is not something which affects their lives directly and, if our society is facing rampant individualism, this desire should not feature in people’s wishes. But, it does. With the UK spending less that 0.7 percent of gross national income on international aid, and numerous people’s wishes focusing on humanitarian woes, the compassion and care individuals have for their fellow human beings is not always reflected enough in national policy.
I do not think that society is retreating into rampant individualism. We are more complex than that. We have to give our species more credit. Reading about dreadful global struggles does impact our wellbeing and this ought to be recognized.