It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.
—SENECA
We have reached the end of this long adventure. For my part, I have passionately devoted myself to it for five fruitful years of research, reading, and encounters.
I had first planned only to deal with two central themes, the existence of real altruism and the way to cultivate it. But was it possible to ignore everything that opposes altruism and threatens it—selfishness, devaluation of the other, violence? Deepening my investigations, little by little I discovered that altruism played a determining role in almost every dimension of our life. It is the essential key to resolving crises we are experiencing now—social, economic, ecological crises. Thus this essay began to fill out. I had to avoid simplifying an infinitely complex reality, in which the various phenomena are massively interdependent.
Over the course of this decade, I have had the good fortune to meet and talk with most of the thinkers, scientists, and economists whose conclusions and studies I have presented here. Nevertheless, I am quite aware that this overview remains imperfect, and that a few additional years of research would have allowed me to offer readers a more complete whole. But as they stand, the ideas and scientific studies I have compiled here do allow us to support the hypothesis that I presented in the beginning of this book, namely, that altruism is the Ariadne’s thread allowing us to connect harmoniously the challenges of the economy in the short term, quality of life in the mean term, and our future environment in the long term. I hope from the bottom of my heart that this book can contribute its stone, modest as it may be, to the building of a better world.
For things truly to change, however, we must dare to embrace altruism. Dare to say that real altruism exists, that it can be cultivated by every one of us, and that the evolution of cultures can favor its expansion. Dare, too, to teach it in schools as a precious tool allowing children to realize their natural potential for kindness and cooperation. Dare to assert that the economy cannot content itself with the voice of rationality and strict personal interest, but that it must also listen to the voice of caring and make it heard. Dare to take the fate of future generations seriously, and dare to change the way we are exploiting the planet today that will be their home tomorrow. Dare, finally, to proclaim that altruism is not a luxury, but a necessity.
As we approach a dangerous point of no-return in terms of the environment, we still have the power to overcome these difficulties by fully engaging our extraordinary ability to cooperate with each other: “Cooperation,” the evolutionist Martin Nowak reminds us, “was the principal architect of four billion years of evolution. It is the greatest hope for the future of humanity, and it will allow us to meet the serious challenges that lie ahead.”1
To do this, we must cultivate altruism on an individual level, for that is where everything begins. Altruism shows us what is good to do, but also how one should be, and what qualities and virtues one should cultivate. Starting with a kindly motivation, altruism should be integrated into our everyday lives, and should reflect the unique quality of every being and every situation. We should promote altruism on the level of society through education, through institutions that respect the rights of every individual, and through political and economic systems that allow everyone to flourish without sacrificing the good of future generations. Finally, it is essential to consolidate in a common effort the different movements that try to promote altruism and cooperation: “The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation,”2 said the philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell.
Altruism has been the central concept of my research, since it is the most all-encompassing, but we should still not forget that basically it’s love that’s at stake, love that extends to everyone, including oneself. “The best practical advice I can give to the present generation is to practice the virtue of love,” Bertrand Russell also said, joined in this by the Dalai Lama, who so often asserts that love and compassion are the very foundations of society and proclaims, “My religion is kindness.” He explains his thinking in his book Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for the New Millennium:
The spiritual revolution I advocate is not a religious revolution. Nor does it have to do with a style of life that, in a way, would be from another world; it has even less to do with anything magical or mysterious. Rather it’s a matter of radical re-orientation, far from our usual selfish preoccupations, for the benefit of the community that is ours; it’s a kind of conduct that takes into account the interests of others as well as our own.
This altruistic love is the best guarantee of a life that is full of meaning, a life in which we work for the happiness of others and try to remedy their suffering, a life we can regard with a feeling of serene satisfaction as death approaches. Love and compassion also need to be guided by wisdom. At the heart of the Buddhist teachings one finds the notion that wisdom and compassion have to be intimately united, like the two wings of a bird. A bird cannot fly with just one wing and does not learn how to fly with one wing first and the other next: wisdom has to deepen as compassion becomes vaster.
“I don’t know what your destiny will be,” said Albert Schweitzer to a group of schoolboys, “but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”3 Real happiness is entwined with altruism, since it is part of an essential kindness that is accompanied by a profound desire that everyone can flourish in life. It is a love that is always available, and that stems from the unchanging simplicity, serenity, and strength of a good heart.
Kathmandu, Nepal,
June 2, 2013