Have the rich and powerful lost their altruistic instincts?

[Greatest I am]

Have the rich and powerful lost their altruistic instincts?

Humans are the most altruistic and good of all the animal species, yet at present, our rich and powerful allow the poorest of us to starve to death by hoarding their wealth. This is unheard of in the animal world.

https://www.upworthy.com/9-out-of-10-americans-are-completely-wrong-about-this-mind-blowing-fact-2

Generally speaking, in ancient days the rich and powerful insured that the poor were taken care of to the best of their ability. In the past, the rank and file demanded that the rich and powerful live up to that good altruistic trait by revolting against them. The French Revolution is a good example of this. Have the rank and file lost their altruistic and good characters by allowing the rich and powerful to let people starve to death while doing nothing?

Are the notions of liberty, equality, and fraternity dead in the world?

Is mankind at the point of losing the altruistic instincts that has made us the greatest animal that the world has ever produced?

Regards
DL

[Sherman A1]

1. I would go with

Yes on that question.

[LonePirate]

2. Lost implies previous possession of so I am skeptical of your premise.

[zipplewrath]

3. Misplaced

It's an overstatement to suggest that the truly rich and powerful ever acted "altruistically". However, at various times, they saw that a necessary need of maintaining power, was to care for or sustain the working classes. It was the kind of care that most folks feel for their pets. There was some pity and sense of duty involved in their perception of responsibility. There was also some connection to a sense of entitlement from God that was established, and maintained, by the exercise of this responsibility. But always, at the end of the day, this social contract played out by the serfs serving their masters.

The industrial revolution came along and much of this sense of responsibility was replaced by the paycheck. The empowered saw their entire sense of responsibility in the daily wage. Even that was to be viewed as a "gift" to the workers, one to be withdrawn or withheld at the powerful's determination. You should read some of J. Paul Getty's views on wages as they related to the value of the work actually produced. It's no wonder that labor unions were born out of the industrial revolution.

The late 20th century brought a strong labor movement that ultimately created the EEOC, OSHA, and the Dept. of Labor among other legal aspects to wages and labor. It brought the 5 day work week and the 40 hour week. And it was so successful, that the people were convinced they no longer needed labor unions. And as the 20th century ended, we saw the decline of unions, and many of the benefits that they forced the corporations and owners to share. Literally, at the very end, we saw the loss of pensions as young workers became more interested in "stock options" and some slice of ownership instead of long term benefits like a defined benefit pension.

It will all collapse soon. We have a looming "Gray Collapse" coming as the next generation attempts to retire and finds out that they cannot. Especially those that spent a career paying of college loans instead of building "nest eggs".

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

4. I'm thinking the rich people that worked their butts off for it are more altruistic

because they remember what they came from and they are sympathetic to others and grateful for what they have. After wealth has been in a family for a few generations... those people that are just born wealthy and never had to work for it. They are not very altruistic because they can't relate to regular people. They only can relate to regular folks if their family has put in a great effort to educate them about non-wealthy people and taught them well to have respect for these people still... taught them to be humble. That doesn't seem to happen so much. I think the message gets lost over about 2 or 3 generations. The rich people that have no real skills and they were just born rich... those ones are the most likely to be the hoarders. They don't want to give anything because they are not confident in their own abilities to actually make money, plus they are accustomed to living a pampered life.

[Democrats_win]

5. Any natural good has atrophied.

The rich have moved further and further away from real people--the distance has grown exponentially in recent years. It's not only that as the old joke goes, they have more money (they have more now than ever), but they feel more entitled, less responsible, less in touch....They are truly horrible. As Leona Helmsley said "Only the little people pay taxes."

What kind of people say such things? The rich. They are different and any altruism, like their conscience, has atrophied.