Indeed. True altruism is extremely rare. Maybe some forms exist within a group of very close kin or among exceptional individuals, but even there it is fiercly debated. To expect altruism within an international group of thousands of random colleagues who mostly never met face-to-face is ambitious, to put it mildly. To accuse someone in a work environment like ours of selfishness is simpy absurd.
Also note the "sacrifice" in the above case was minimal and not even assured, the rejection could have been just a gamble for more. Also he knew very well his vote was just one of thousands and hence rather insignificant. I think it would be very difficult to actually objectively acknowledge any sacrifice in this particular case. But boy did it feel good to say no!
I am not trying to create chaos, but rather argue to finally stop the constant accusation of selfishness in other groups, may it be a different fleet, rank, base, or (worst of all) ethnic group. It is precisely that righteous and distracting "bickering between ourselves" I would like to end (that and because I am bored to death)
Last edited by Sam Ting Wong; 24th Feb 2021 at 09:24.