Ayn Rand believes that altruism leads to four negative consequences. First, people express low self-esteem as they view their lives beneath those of others. These persons also do not respect people, perceiving them as weak. Next, they develop a negative view of humankind and the universe, believing that society and nature are cruel. Finally, Rand thinks that altruism is linked to cynicism as the philosophy deals with hypothetical scenarios.
However, these cannot be considered actual consequences of altruism as they make many assumptions about the nature of helping others. People who behave altruistically have their reasons, and one cannot presume that their view of the world is monolithic. The ethics of altruism cannot be viewed in a vacuum from real-life situations, where people want to assist others out of compassion or due to having resources to help. As such, the meaning of altruism is skewed to imply that acts of kindness always require immeasurable sacrifices.
The essay has some positive elements that point to a consistent logic of the author’s thinking. Rand argues that love and friendship have a selfish underpinning, as caring for one person motivates individuals to value their friends more than people they do not know. Here, the author’s argument that a man loving his wife is likely to sacrifice his fortune to cure her is consistent with her philosophy.
However, the essay also contains many unfounded beliefs that are not supported by evidence. For instance, Rand declares that a human is created as a blank slate, thus acting rationally when encountering strangers and believing in their initial good. However, the combination of these two statements is contradictory as it does not explain why a person without inherent beliefs would assume that another human is good without explanation. Furthermore, Rand’s view of poverty and similar problems lacks systemic thinking. It disregards the history of inequality for many groups, such as people of color or women.
A person’s moral compass should not disregard self-interest but must also integrate the value of compassion. On the one hand, self-interest is a reason for living in society peacefully, as humans have better chances of surviving when they help each other. On the other hand, humans’ compassionate nature prevents self-interest from being the only guide of morality. An alternative would be a balanced philosophy that recognizes the worth of humans as separate individuals and parts of a community.