
What Is Altruists International?
We are a grass roots movement for social change - we promote
altruism
by helping volunteers work together and by encouraging people to
think more about the welfare of others,
not about what they can get from other people, but what they can give to them.
We don't have a traditional hierarchical structure, but we're an international not-for-salary network
of friends who communicate with one another mainly through the internet. We deliberately try to
ignore money; we generally cover our own costs and help others to cover theirs by
giving stuff away whenever possible.
We are privileged to have time and energy to
work as altruists and are trying to extend this freedom to the rest of humanity
by offering a way out of wage slavery.
It was started in 2001 by Robin Upton,
an internet consultant, under guidance from Clive Beresford, a community activist.
Our first media attention was in 2002 when our innovative Bengali typing system
was applauded in the Bangladesh national press. Since 2004 we have advised various institutions on the
subject of altruism. After a
presentation in 2004 at the horizontal European Social Forum,
we have been focussing on developing
Altruistic Economics.