Ethical Egoism

Take on photo of a chronically malnourished child. Add to this the fact that he is stark naked, his stomach bloated, his lungs ripping through what is paper thin skin, a grossly disproportioned head and a line “for when we complain” and what do you get? The feebleness of mankind.

I came across this photo on a friend's Facebook profile. The image did not disturb me, as I encounter such scenes in my everyday work. What got me were the words. Are we so self engrossed and materialistic that at times of supposed struggle, we juxtapose ourselves against the disadvantaged sectors of society? Further, is such a justification ethically justified? Should we resort to pitying the troubles of others just to comfort ourselves?

Very few could claim they have never been guilty of the line “it could be worse,” or “At least I am not…fat…ugly…dying…”

As a development professional working with vulnerable migrants, I could easily be accused of the above crime; In response I could argue that helping the disadvantaged stands a long way from using the disadvantaged for self-comfort. The key is helping is to do it selflessly. Yet an increasingly egoistic world leads one to ask – does altruism even exist or is it a mere utopian condition? Further, in today’s day and age, have we created such a thing as ethical egoism?

You see the problem, in my view, really arises when we convert the advantaged-disadvantaged dichotomy into a means for rationalizing out woes. If you are down with the flu, you reassure yourself by remembering those at death’s door. If hate your job, you accept that it could be worse if you were unemployed (ok granted – some people might prefer the latter). How many of us were told by our parents as children that we would be sent to Ethiopia or some other conflict-ridden part of the world at that time if we did not ensure our dinner plate was licked clean?

So, is such ethical egoism a part of natural human behaviour? Buddhist and Hindu philosophy (as I am sure other religions assert as well) would argue not. I have been indulging in a bit of Dalai Lama in recent months from which I have learnt that the ideal mental condition is to be able to rationalise each thought and treat each emotion as a unique entity. Imagine you have some weighing scales in front of you. The perfect condition is to treat all of our emotions – the good, the bad and the ugly - equally and worthy of the same respect. Now that could be translated as don’t go too flipping mental when you get good news and don’t go contemplating the unthinkable when you are down in the dumps.

I endeavor to reach this destination of supreme consciousness, but I do not think I am quite there yet, nor am I in any hurry either. I continue to jump up and down on the bed when I get some good news and I continue to drench my pillow with tears when I have one of those days. I continue to sing in the shower when I am on top of the world and equally, flip into fury when I am stuck in traffic. So for now, I’d like to be content by rationalizing my bad days by valuing my good days instead of against someone else’s sorrow. The chronically malnourished child on Facebook cannot compare his fate to anyone else’s but his own, so who am I to compare my woes against his?

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
Buddha, Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B