THE LIMITS OF SELF INTEREST

The Limits of Self-Interest
The idea that helping others harms them is not just wrong but destructive to democracy, Deborah Stone argues.

The Samaritan's Dilemma: Should Government Help Your Neighbor?, by Deborah Stone, Nation Books, 327 pages, $27.95
On a warm summer evening several years ago, I was strolling through Midtown Manhattan on my way to meet friends for a drink. I paused outside the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue, and in that absentminded moment, someone grabbed my purse and took off. As I started after him, yelling, "Stop, thief!" a jogger suddenly raced passed me and rounded the next corner in hot pursuit. Within minutes the runner reappeared, my purse in hand. Dashing past me, he silently handed it off like a baton and kept going without ever breaking stride.
Until I read Deborah Stone's The Samaritan's Dilemma, I had thought of this incident only as an amusing New York City story. Now I see it as an example of what Stone calls "everyday altruism." It's her premise that people do things to help other people all the time and that altruism is a powerful but invisible force in our lives. We have a deep need to be of use to others and to be part of something larger than ourselves. The tragedy for Americans is that this native selflessness is underrated in our culture, and our leaders have not had the wisdom to harness it for the common good.
Americans do hear the message of altruism in their churches, for every major religion teaches us to help others. I remember one sermon on Mother's Day, when our pastor reminded us that "we are defined by our responsibilities": We are never more aware of self-definition through service to others than when we have young children. Countless mothers and fathers dedicate their lives to their children, and more than one-fifth of adults are caregivers to other adults.