Jimmy Wales is not appealing to altruism. As a practitioner of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism [1], he would hold that altruism--the doctrine that one has

Jimmy Wales is not appealing to altruism. As a practitioner of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism [1], he would hold that altruism--the doctrine that one has a duty to sacrifice oneself for the "good" of others--is evil [2]. He's asking you to give money because you value Wikipedia, you want to see it continue, and you genuinely want to show appreciation for it--that is, for selfish reasons. Those things are more important than wanting a "donor badge" or something else to show off. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)