[lbo-talk] On Chomsky's remark about Israeli society

[// ravi]

On Oct 1, 2011, at 2:16 PM, Joseph Catron wrote:
> My answer, refined over time, is that I'm a Lord Byron-style romantic,
> wanting to be part of a struggle far greater than myself whose fruits will
> survive me. This is quite a bit different from self-promotion (put me next
> to one of those, and the distinction will be clear). But if someone want to
> chalk it up to another form of ego, it's probably not the most unfair
> reduction in the world.
> 
> Now the thing to do is keep an eye out for the man who claims his motives
> are entirely selfless. If he actually means it, he's not right in the head.

If someone goes around claiming he is selfless, that would be strange. But the idea of [partial] selflessness (or altruism) is not problematic at all, IMHO. One can satisfy one’s ego (if that sort of analysis rocks your boat) - want to be part of something far greater than self, etc - it would be an incorrect reduction to call that “want” selfishness. I know I have waxed ineloquently on this many times over, so this time I will stop with the usual start to my waxing: a reference to Sen’s Rational Fools paper.

	—ravi