Music for Mongu

Last night I went to a friend's charity event. The event comprised of local acts and bands, all playing to help the charity and to raise awareness and publicity for themselves. The atmosphere was polite, with a wide range of ages from 6 to 60 year olds, all joining in for a good cause. It made me think about the concept of altruism and if there was such thing as a truly altruistic act - because it seems to me that even the most seemingly selfless acts might seem to have something in it for themselves.

My sister is coming back from holiday in France tomorrow. No doubt she will bring back souvenirs for me and my parents. At a glance, this may seem like an altruistic act, however, upon further inspection, I realised a couple of things:

1. In giving us gifts, we will be expected to return them when we go away.
2. In giving us the gifts, it will no doubt make her feel good about giving us souvenirs.


I'm not saying that either of these consequences are immoral or anything even like that, but I would urge to think next time an altruistic act is mentioned. I urge you to think, is that really altruistic? Or is that purely another reason for us to make us feel good about our actions?