Doing Good and Ego Motives

One criticism frequently mentioned of people who are into doing good is that they are coming from other motives than altruism. It is claimed that some do it to boast or to boost their ego, that others do it out of a sense of guilt and obligation, and that there are also people who use it as part of status climbing. My response is: Who cares?

Doing good is a good thing, whatever the motivations. Whether one does it out of compassion for humanity or out of ego, in either case good gets done. One may or may not be made a better person as a result of it, but the world benefits. In either case benefit is achieved, whatever one's reasons for doing it may be.

One destructive dynamic I've frequently seen is someone finding - in one's partner, in someone related, or in someone unrelated - a real or a perceived flaw, which then leads one to claim that the person cannot be good and cannot be true to their stated ideals. This does nothing except the following: Discourage the person from any ideal-driven action, resulting in a worsening not only of their temperament but of what comes from them into the world. If it is claimed that someone who argues with his wife cannot be in favor of women's rights - that someone who takes a plane cannot be in favor of environmental sanity - or that someone who is wealthy cannot care about the poor, the result is neither honesty nor integrity. The result is the person being discouraged from having the ideal entirely, to the point that none of their action becomes ideal-driven, and benefit to the world from the person is vastly reduced.

Far better it is that the person continue to do good, whatever is thought of them personally. Far better it is that contribution and benefit continue to be made. Far better it is that doing good be a value in and of itself, and that one not need to be "a perfect person" or to come from a rigid set of considerations in order to contribute benefit to fellow human being.

Some actions are good, whatever the motivations for them. In case of people who are driven by other things than pure altruism, it makes sense to make an incentive for them to do good. If they are driven by ego, or by status, or by any other non-altruistic concern, then it should be a part of status-striving or ego reward for people to do good in the world. That way, good will be done, whatever the people's character or motivations. And the result will be benefit realized all across the board.