Cool! In the past we've had discussion in the following week's post, so that everyone's talking in the same post, but I won't stop you. Since we are changing some stuff about the formatting of the club this time around there may be some need for rearrangement. We'll have to play it by ear there.

For The Giving Plague, I hadn't really given much though to the choice angle of altruism given by the scenario. Forry was like the devil on one shoulder and Les was the angel on the other in the altruism/selfishness scale. We know from Forry's narration that he's always got his eyes on the prize and rules-out no deed that would help him get it. We don't truly know what's going through Les' head. Forry does become a saint though, it's all part of his carefully executed facade though. I think the story nudges you to question if there's any true alturism. After all, it's implied the infected aren't really made altruistic, but that they go through some mental gymnastics to define themselves as altruists given the urge to donate blood. Once you have an image of yourself, you go though steps to maintain that image. It's basically what Forry does in a way.