Is altruism actually a moral value, or is it a political con? A variety of politicians assert that we must switch to renewable energy to save the planet. So corn (maize) is produced not for human or animal consumption, but for ethanol. In the meantime the cost of corn for food goes up, and people starve. The Dept. of Agriculture is resistant to the idea of doing away with the ethanol subsidy. So people suffer because altruists want to save the planet. Excess alcohol consumption is a bad thing. So altruists insist that alcohol must be prohibited for the good of the people. The result is Al Capone, corruption, a lost decade of violence. Morphine, heroin, marijuana, LSD, etc., are all bad things. So altruists prohibit them with the Harrison narcotics act, the Marijuana Tax act, and other legislation. The inevitable result is mob violence. Guns are bad things, so altruists establish gun free zones, and the result is massacres at Luby's, Columbine, Virginia Tech, & Aurora. Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid are put in to help people, and the result is bankruptcy. Every altruistic program that has been implemented by politicians has been a failure. The only beneficiaries of the politics of altruism have been the politicians and the bureaucrats who have accrued power. Every appeal to altruism should be suspect, and every pol making that appeal should be avoided. "All women are created equal. Then some become Marines" Katy Perry video for "Part of me" Thomas Hart tehart@xxxxxxx