That, for me, is the big difference between altruism—or its close cousin, charity—and mutual aid. The former preserves the hierarchy between giver and receiver. The latter recognizes that everyone has things to give, and everyone has things they need. The Anarresti argue that real care isn’t selfless but reciprocal, not altruistic but mutual. Nobody goes hungry while another eats.

In that light, “effective” altruism’s criticism of altruism isn’t a subversion of egoism but a cementing of it.

The other side of egoism by Mandy Brown favicon