[p2p-research] Defining Altruism ? Normative vs Autonomous ? Liberal Vs Conservative ?

[Michel Bauwens]

Bill Gates was a business warlord, who destroyed countless enterpreneurs and
innovators through legal and illegal means, he was a monopolist, an
anti-innovator, but he did create the standard that was used for personal
computing .. he was also an enemy of openness and all the things this list
stand for, that's not a secret, and his IP rents has been very detrimental
to the development of the South .. it's a strong form of neo-colonialism

certainly, and this is very common, people who have extracted so much value
from humanity, feel a spiritiual crisis, and fear for their reputation
after their death ... I'm not sure I have the story right, but when paulina
barsook wrote cyber-selfish, she noted that unlike previous wealthy
generations, the digital rich were not contributing to philanthropy, and
this book created social pressure; I was also told that it was his wife who
was instrumental in convincing him to change tack and start giving. You
could say that, in the context of another previous discussion, what drives
him is enlightened self-interest ... i.e. solving their spiritual crisis,
creating a lasting reputation, and at the same time, solving a number of
social problems through the money they have accumulated

Of course, it's better, and good, that people who have extracted value all
their life, give back, but better yet, would have been to develop business
models and practices, which combine doing well and good simulataneously. As
you know, there is now a strong movement to change business in that sense,
through fair trade, fair tracing, social enterpreneurship, good capital,
etc...

Also, because of the background of the givers, one should not leave their
assistance unexamined ... Bill Gates is heavily into promoting GMO's, and
gives money to communities suffering from toxic shock, while investing
simulatenously in the companies that create the problem in the first place
...

The Gates-Buffet philanthropy has a definite political and social program,
strongly related to create a biological capitalism

To see both the negative and positive aspects of such philanthropy, does not
necessarily mean holding them 'in contempt' ...

Gates is a product of our contracdictory world .. it is only those that
"steal" massively, which can do "good" on a mega scale  .. it's a paradox

On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 9:48 PM, Ryan Lanham <rlanham1963 at gmail.com> wrote:

> How would people explain the altruism of a Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, etc.
>  Guilt?
>
> Bill Gates has done far more for humanity than everyone on this list
> combined.  Yet, I suspect many here would hold him in contempt.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 8:25 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> hi, I think this important to put the altruism in context, no human person
>> can be purely altruist all the time, as such a person would not live very
>> long
>>
>> but a concept of interdependency makes self-interest encompass the others:
>>
>> see
>> http://p2pfoundation.net/Primary_vs_Secondary_Individual-Group_Mentality
>>
>>
>>
>> A distinction made by Heb Shepard, summarized by Rosa Zubizarreta:
>>
>>
>>
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