Fundamentally it feels like saying, “a good deed is only good if done for the right reason”.
That might be important for religion or some other way to measure individual morality, but as a society it really doesn’t matter. In fact, having some sort of reward for helping others is useful, since it encourages people to be kind.
I would be pleased as punch if the wealthy and powerful were admired for how much they made the world a better place, instead of because of the size of the swimming pool filled with gold coins in their basement.
These people love the sense of broadcasting their “selfless giving”, and totally not for attention and influence.
I’d like to push back on this notion.
Fundamentally it feels like saying, “a good deed is only good if done for the right reason”.
That might be important for religion or some other way to measure individual morality, but as a society it really doesn’t matter. In fact, having some sort of reward for helping others is useful, since it encourages people to be kind.
I would be pleased as punch if the wealthy and powerful were admired for how much they made the world a better place, instead of because of the size of the swimming pool filled with gold coins in their basement.