Monkey Business

This planet needs every form of kindness it can get; I shall not complain about reciprocal giving: I scratch your back -- you scratch my back. It makes for an efficient way of giving. It works. We only have so much time. If we did not watch over our interest and gave without expecting something in return, we would undoubtedly become exploited, burned out, bankrupted. No, I like good monkeys and the way they handle social needs within the group. I like us doing monkey business.

But it is not fulfilling our human potential. To be a Mensch, we must go beyond looking out for ourselves and our precious genes. Because we are more than gene-driven monkeys, because we can choose to give without getting back, because we are capable of altruism that reaches into uncharted, unknown, unpopular territory, we must act accordingly. Kindness without EGO reflects how much inner space we have, and, at the same time, widens that space.