Even though altruism declares that “it is more blessed to give than to
receive,” it does not work that way in practice. The givers are never blessed;
the more they give, the more is demanded of them; complaints, reproaches and
insults are the only response they get for practicing altruism’s virtues (or
for their actual virtues). Altruism cannot permit a recognition of virtue;
it cannot permit self-esteem or moral innocence. Guilt is altruism’s stock in
trade, and the inducing of guilt is its only means of self-perpetuation. If
the giver is not kept under a torrent of degrading, demeaning accusations, he
might take a look around and put an end to the self-sacrificing. Altruists are
concerned only with those who suffer—not with those who provide relief from
suffering, not even enough to care whether they are able to survive. When no
actual suffering can be found, the altruists are compelled to invent or
manufacture it.