Pretty much.

Let's not pretend this movement and some others are all about giving. It's a sale, plain and simple. The sale is "peace of mind" (i.e. social approval) for performing an altruistic act (i.e. receiving no material benefit), not "giving". It's an anti-concept in that it does not link back to physical reality (again, receiving no material benefit).

I myself have said, LibertyBelle, that Feminism/Liberalism/Socialism/Progressivism/ and the other Leftist "isms" are what have destroyed America as we knew it.

I had forgotten the phrase "Giving Tuesday". At
first, I thought the subject was about giving to
education. If I think a cause is worthy enough
(from an Objectivist perspective) then I might do-
nate to it (if I could afford it).

List of things Jan's triggers are connected to:
.44 magnum
.357 magnum
9mm Luger
.45 acp
12 guage side-by-side

Am I close?

I don't know anything about the American Chemical
Society, but I don't think I would donate to any
college or university. I believe they are mainly a
threat to freedom in this country. Maybe someday
someone will start an Objectivist college or university, and maybe I would donate to that (if
I am still around and have a job by then).

I fully agree with you JB.
If 90 cents to the dollar donated goes to Administrative costs... then your "10 cents worth" is worth a little more than nothing.
I'd rather donate for your student's classroom equipment and know that the full amount is being justly employed.

I set up a Giving Tuesday filter. All email to trash, all sites ignored.

For awhile now, I've refused to purchase anything from a company which interjects social consciousness into their mission statement or their marketing campaigns.

If each individual takes care of himself, his own and whomever he chooses, all will be well with the world. Social consciousness is a construct better taught within families then from external coercive elements.

I donate anonymously. I was taught that when you give, you give - you get nothing in return. If you give with the expectation of a return, you are making a purchase.

I give...on lots of Tuesdays...to the local Blood Bank, every few months.

And I do it because I want to...not that anyone shamed me into it.

They can keep their "Giving Tuesday".

Hah! I did not really even notice the "bullshit". Oh dear...that is supposed to be a Bad Word, isn't it. (I was just commenting in general.)

I expect people to have strong opinions in the Gulch. Some of those opinions will be far different from mine; a subset of those may change my views and inform my future perspectives.

You will certainly up/down vote according to your own parameters. I, by mine.

Jan, has her own triggers

The grocery store I frequent is constantly asking customers to "round up" for one worthy cause or another. Before the cashier can even say, "Would you like to.......?" I say a firm "No," smile, and remain pleasant throughout the transaction. Sometimes they are befuddled by my lack of guilty excuses as to why I won't donate. The last shakedown was for the worthy cause of "Helping to Feed the Hungry," this as I watched the multitude of obese people waddle through the store and hang over their scooters as they blocked the aisles. Other than this annoyance, I love this store.

Hello Jan! I don't upvote/downvote for manners but rather on the position being taken, the content of the post. I agree that his response was tonally appropriate but still philosophically incorrect.

I also admit that my use of the word bullshit was overly aggressive. I invite people to substitute a more polite word; editing period has ended. Believers making silly statements as though they're factual is one of my triggers. Maybe someday I'll overcome it, if I ever convince myself that I should!

Shooting from between my ears (without looking stuff up) I would guess that it gained the small-a meaning by becoming accepted. With a capital A it's been helpful to the Progressive or Fabian program as a means for destroying the American virtue of individualism.

Named or not, with a small or large A, it is found throughout civilizations and is used as a method of control. It's in the Bible, in Plato, and in nearly all mystical thought.

There seems to be a lot more to the 20th-century push for socialism on two fronts. My wife has been researching the biography of Karl Marx and has noticed that he was closely connected to powerful people and that the Fabian Society was founded in 1884, less than a year after his 1883 death. More to come, eventually.

"did nothing more than shrug," I love it! +1 real and +9 purely conceptual.

I must have received at least 20 emails that contained #GivingTuesday in the subject or the body text. In preparation for next year I will create a filter that sends those directly to the trash.

And I' so #sickandtired of seeing #hashtag in front of virtually everything these days that I'm seriously considering starting a #kickstartercampaign to #removehashtagfromthekeyboard. I think I might #loathe it as much as #lol.

This really bothered me yesterday. What bothered me even more is that EFF and Pacific Legal Foundation, who should know better, were amongst the solicitors.

I may give to organizations whose work I respect and want to support, but I'll be damned if I do so on "Giving Bloody Tuesday"!

Jan

Yes. I was incorrect in thinking that the technical definition of altruism included volition. I now divide 'small "a" altruism' from 'capital "A" Altruism". The common use of the term, small "a" includes the assumption of a voluntary nature. But I now accept that the technical definition of Altruism is that it is non-volitional. (Ewwww!)

I just wanted to direct your attention to the fact that in common everyday use, the definition of the term has shifted.

Jan, looked it up in lots of places

I agree with you in all of the points that you made, Timelord. I consider altruism (small "a" altruism, not the technical philosophy) to be voluntary and whimsical; the idea of 'the worship of man' is baffling to me - I am hoping that society will eventually get past the point where it needs to worship anything. If someone wants to worship a deity, that is their business, but I do not worship 'worship'.

Were a mystical deity self-evident, then a lot of us who meet the definition of 'self' would not have thought it obvious that such a critter was unnecessary. And I agree, in spades, that we are in the process of scientifically answering the questions that made the postulation of a creator-deity necessary to former ages. We do not have all of the answers yet, but we now know that the issues are knowable.

I pointed james464 back up because his reply politely stated his viewpoint.

Jan

Being generous is a fault that I am working toward correcting. ;)

jbrenner was generous; I did downvote you. You wrote, "On another note, altruism is the greatest form of the worship of secular humanism since if it isn't in the worship of God, is has to be in worship of man."

I proclaim that a humongous load of bullshit. First, "if it isn't in the worship of God, is has to be in worship of man." No, I don't worship anything. I place my mind and rational thought at or near the top of my hierarchy of values, but I don't worship them. The word worship itself implies the believe in mysticism, which Objectivists are not allowed, by definition.

Then, "... altruism is the greatest form of the worship of secular humanism..."? What kind of hogwash is that? Secular humanism and altruism couldn't possibly any more unrelated to each other than they already are. In fact, I would say that religion is the greatest proponent of altruism. Christianity clearly promotes taking care of others as one of man's highest purposes - especially if he gives away everything he has.

But your claim that the existence of a mystical uberbeing is self-evident is so far beyond bullshit that the word that adequately describes the sentiment has yet to be invented. I have two arms and two legs; that is self-evident. I have never, ever seen the tiniest sliver of evidence to support the existence of your mystic uberbeing.

Just in case you want to counter with silly questions like, "Well, how did X happen or where did Y come from," I'll gladly say, "I don't know but our knowledge of the universe grows every day and eventually we will know."

Solicitations? I am inundated with them. Every one of them is for a "worthy" cause. The most prolific are political, then comes veterans, then children, then first responders, and it goes on&on&on.Once upon a time, I socked away lotsa dough for retirement, even taking inflation into account. Everything got paid up. I was OK. But who could have predicted an economy ths out of control? The BW and I decided on two charities, on for her and one for me. That is it. You can solicit me until you turn blue, but as much as I'd like to contribute to many more, I'm not going to impoverish myself because I would honestly prefer death to welfare. This is the viewpoint of a refined and elderly gentleman and you younger folks better listen well to me or it'll be your asses hanging out in poverty.

Yes, this is part of a silly answer to altruism.
"If we are here to help others, then what are the others here for?"

The silly reply to that statement is (of course) "They're here for dinner. Now go and feed them!"

I'm hungry--I hereby volunteer to help CBJ.

Yeah, yesterday I read somewhere that it was "Giving Tuesday" and did nothing more than shrug.