A growing number of individuals are calling for an end to the economic shutdown. But with only a few notable exceptions, virtually nobody is questioning the moral code that gave rise to the economic shutdown. Virtually nobody is questioning the morality of altruism.
As a moral code, altruism demands that we place the welfare and interests of others before our own welfare and interests. In the words of Auguste Comte, the French philosopher who coined the term,
We are born under a load of obligations of every kind, to our predecessors, to our successors, to our contemporaries.
According to altruism, our obligations to others are a duty that we incur upon birth. The mere fact that we exist obligates us to self-sacrificially serve others, to place their welfare and interests before our own. And according to altruism, those who refuse to satisfy this duty voluntarily may properly be forced to do so.
America (and the world) is filled with examples of altruism in action. From Social Security to food stamps, from “progressive” taxation to regulations protecting the environment, altruism forces individuals to sacrifice their values for others.
It is a monstrous evil to force individuals to sacrifice their values. But more fundamentally, altruism demands that we sacrifice the source of values–rational, independent judgment.
The stated justification for the universal lockdown was to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Our own independent judgment regarding the appropriate precautions to take was rendered irrelevant and moot. We were all forced to sacrifice in the name of “flattening the curve,” regardless of our own judgment or evaluation of the situation. The lockdown has prohibited from acting as we deem best. According to altruism, this is proper and just.
The widespread suffering resulting from the ongoing economic shutdown is the effect. Fundamentally, the cause is altruism. Until we reject altruism, we will be doomed to experience its destructive powers the next time another crisis arises. Until we reject altruism, we will continue to be forced to sacrifice our values and the rational, independent judgment that makes values possible.