Blurts & Spasms

According to research in evolutionary psychology, biology, sociology, and a handful of other disciplines, prosociality is a fundamental human trait that has consistently preserved human communities through many challenges throughout history by enhancing group fitness — at least there is a growing body of research pointing in this direction (see this link). As an antisocial trait, greed is generally antagonistic to group fitness even if it benefits the individual.

Unfortunately, there is a relatively recent mythology — invented without supportive evidence by Austrian School economist and Randian objectivists, among others — that humans are purely self-interested, individualistic, and materialistic critters. These sources do not substantiate these claims but insist they are self-evident primary characteristics of human behavior and decision-making.

But they are simply wrong.

It does not take much effort to confirm the primacy of prosociality in human nature. Just do an academic search on “evolution,” “prosocial behaviors” and “group fitness.”

One recent problem is that, as a society, we have been “feeding the wrong wolf.” Modern commercialistic culture has been reinforcing individualistic materialism and narcissistic selfishness — regularly rewarding these pathological, antisocial behaviors. In a sense, we have collectively been suppressing prosocial impulses in favor of antisocial ones.

If this continues, it will not end well.

However, with respect the the “feasibility of anarchism and socialism,” that’s already been established through left-anarchist examples. See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anarchist_communities