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Which brings us to the question, are they truly altruistic? I haven't seen Gandhi, Mandela or Teresa complain that they didn't make millions out of their work.

by kamaal 11y ago

Which brings us to the question, are they truly altruistic? I haven't seen Gandhi, Mandela or Teresa complain that they didn't make millions out of their work. Which finally brings us to the answer, these people aren't altruistic, they seem to latch on to whatever job they get, get stuck there, and then try to paint the altruism color to make them feel good. Deep down knowing very well that its the money they desire.

ikeboy 11y ago
Someone can want multiple things. But all else being equal, the one who only wants money has an advantage over the one who wants money and feel-goodies, an honorable job, etc. (Incidentally, it's not always the people complaining, it's activists on their behalf. Also, even if you would continue to work for a low amount because of altruistic reasons, there's still rational value in complaining insofar as you expect the complaining to result in a higher salary. But the rational sell-interest in asking for more money doesn't have any bearing on the ethical question of "should they get more money", and for that, we should remember that they chose the lower money position because of fringe benefits that higher paid positions didn't have. Note further that this only applies to the reference class of "teachers, nurses, academia, science, childcare etc" that can plausibly be said to forgo greater value jobs for altruistic reasons. For someone that can't land a well-paying job because they aren't skilled enough, we need a separate analysis. But the argument OP tries to make that what they produce is still valuable to society wouldn't go through as easily; you could still say "everyone is valuable" or some such thing, but it has less power.)
- kamaal 11y ago
  This extends beyond this altruism argument. >>But all else being equal, the one who only wants money has an advantage over the one who wants money and feel-goodies A guy 'X' who is frugal, saves and invests is going to be richer than a guy 'Y' who might be earning the same(but making financial decisions), in the same job, after a few years. Priorities matter. At the end one must learn to be happy with their decisions.
  - ikeboy 11y ago
    That's what I was going for, yes.

by kamaal 11y ago

ikeboy 11y ago

Someone can want multiple things. But all else being equal, the one who only wants money has an advantage over the one who wants money and feel-goodies, an honorable job, etc. (Incidentally, it's not always the people complaining, it's activists on their behalf. Also, even if you would continue to work for a low amount because of altruistic reasons, there's still rational value in complaining insofar as you expect the complaining to result in a higher salary. But the rational sell-interest in asking for more money doesn't have any bearing on the ethical question of "should they get more money", and for that, we should remember that they chose the lower money position because of fringe benefits that higher paid positions didn't have. Note further that this only applies to the reference class of "teachers, nurses, academia, science, childcare etc" that can plausibly be said to forgo greater value jobs for altruistic reasons. For someone that can't land a well-paying job because they aren't skilled enough, we need a separate analysis. But the argument OP tries to make that what they produce is still valuable to society wouldn't go through as easily; you could still say "everyone is valuable" or some such thing, but it has less power.)

kamaal 11y ago
This extends beyond this altruism argument. >>But all else being equal, the one who only wants money has an advantage over the one who wants money and feel-goodies A guy 'X' who is frugal, saves and invests is going to be richer than a guy 'Y' who might be earning the same(but making financial decisions), in the same job, after a few years. Priorities matter. At the end one must learn to be happy with their decisions.
- ikeboy 11y ago
  That's what I was going for, yes.