Altruism vs. Capitalism Theme Analysis

“Report on the Threatened City” portrays capitalism as a system that encourages profit and self-interest over the common good. In the story, alien envoys visit Earth to warn San Francisco residents of an impending earthquake, and their mission requires them to push their planet’s technology to its limit and “postpone[] certain cherished plans.” They seem to consider these sacrifices worthwhile when balanced against the mass death and devastation that they believe the earthquake will cause. The humans, by contrast, aren’t nearly as altruistic: the envoys observe that the larger the group, the less humans care about it.

The local news broadcasts that occasionally interrupt the envoys’ report do sometimes focus on individual acts of generosity: five “ordinary people” each donate a month’s pay to cover a toddler’s heart surgery, for instance, and a brave man sacrifices himself to rescue four others from a burning building. The envoys also note humans’ “infinite care and devotion to individuals or small groups.” Yet other reports suggests that San Franciscans are generally more concerned about economic expansion than the population’s well-being. Instead of evacuating people before the earthquake or addressing the city’s high poverty rate, the broadcasts largely focus on commercial interests and activities: an entertainment extravaganza, plans for new suburbs that will bring more residents to the city, or new infrastructure to draw in more tourists. Furthermore, individual acts of heroism contrast sharply with more tragic reports, such as when 60 people die in a stadium accident because the stadium owner prioritized profits over safety. The alien envoys thus conclude that under capitalism, people tend to make decisions not by considering people’s needs, but by negotiating between “many conflicting bodies and individuals” who participate out of “self-interest.”