Reflection Week 12

Thursday's class discussion with focus on what it means to give, and aspects related to it, such as altruism and inherent selfishness behind the act of giving was difficult to participate in due to the fact that it was difficult to relate to world politics, and also to relate to my preferred school of thought, realism. When I first learned of realism through the Professor Jackson's podcast, it was mentioned that it is a theory, and doesn't serve to explain everything. I particularly noticed that with such focus on power on a state level, it would be difficult to apply realism in sub-state levels, such as society and individuals. However, it seems that individual motivation behind giving could also be seen in a state level in regards to development, and also realism.

During the World Bank presentation on Wednesday, one particular aspect of it that stuck out was how it differentiated itself from IMF in that it only provides financial support to developing countries, and basically projected the image of an instrument through which developed countries could provide aid, which is a strikingly similar image to those websites we saw on Thursday, where people could simply offer money to give to the "needy." However, it was mentioned in class that sometimes giving is closely related to a selfish motivation. Our discussion revolved around the issue of whether people give just for the sake of giving, or whether people give because they want that fulfillment that they did something to address some of the pressing issues in this world, or whether it is done to promote self-image. Aside from this issue, when we talk about "selfishness," people envision a being that is totally unaware of others and simply cares about self. Therefore, it seems paradoxical that in order for people to be selfish in trying to achieve their goal, they must act in an unselfish way. This is apparent in some of the human motivation behind giving; however, same applies to the state level.

In this continuously globalizing world, it is difficult for states to remain isolated and bluntly selfish, yet all states are selfish in regards to their interest, because or else, it is easy to be pushed around by other states, and no state wants to be pushed around. Therefore, the tactic that is employed is under the guise of altruism, but there are always a selfish motivation behind it, and World Bank is perfect at serving these self-interest. In a world, where war is very unlikely, contest for power is centered on how "good" a state is; how much they can help weaker states and how a state can be a good guy that is better than the other state. The interesting aspect on a state level is that this seems the only viable reason why states would be altruistic. Pure altruism is unlikely, because there are more domestic issues in every state that could do with more funding and attention, and it would be irrational to divert resources to give aid in order to achieve nothing. Giving for the sake of fulfilling one's satisfaction seems also unlikely due to the fact that a state does not seek inner satisfaction that doesn't have any positive results for the state in general. What this leaves us with is that states project altruistic image to achieve something, which is usually in the form of social projection and power.

With this analysis of seemingly altruistic motivation behind foreign aids and participation in institutions such as the World Bank, it seems that these institutions are simply instruments to serve the states, rather than an authoritative entity on its own. This lines up with realism and I believe that what these institutions do, and what they claim to do, cannot be taken at a face value. The World Bank presentation projected the image that it is an institution that serves the purpose of helping the "poor." However, what they do cannot be done without the support of all the states; after all, majority of the funding comes from the states. What this leaves us is the fact that despite what these institutions do, they are simply an intermediary instrument that does not have much authority on its own, and the seeming authority they have are only derived from its constituents the states.

Therefore, I would refute any idea that states are becoming less important actors and that institutions are more important. Furthermore, one thing I would also like to mention is that for the states, altruistic actions only serve selfish motivations. However, on an individual level, there are so many possibilities, because every single individual is different. It is unwise to generalize that everyone has a selfish motivation behind giving, or that everyone is altruistic. Thus, the motivation behind giving that is observed amongst states is part of diverse motivation behind giving individually, and the only viable motivation for states to give is to attain more power through better social image.