altruistic economy

Altruism in Economics

It is useful to remember the guest-host relationship was important in ancient Greece. Altruism was simply assumed of everyone, and freeloaders were definitely punished, though they mythologized it as Zeus killing them. On the whole, if you offer to host a guest, both hosts and guests are under certain obligations not to abuse the relationship between strangers. Sadly, this kind of altruism faded with industrialization and exponential increase of population. Perhaps, one day, even with six billion people on the planet, strangers will be kind to strangers.