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Is altruism a good idea? Is self interest a dangerous thing to hold up as a virtue? Let's look at this by starting with a story:
A powerful and charismatic man decided that his country should go to war with neighboring countries, and kill all the people living there. Then he could seize the land and everything else they owned for himself. He went to the people and announced his plan, asking them to help in this great undertaking.
"This is what I want!" he told the masses. "Just think of how powerful I will be then, and how wealthy too. In the name of everything that I want for myself, I ask you all to help me!" For some reason, this did not inspire the people to kill their neighbors.
In another time and place, another powerful man also wanted to kill millions and seize their belongings and land. He went to the people and asked for help.
"Think of all that you can gain," he told them. "When we are done killing them all we can share in the loot and divide the land among ourselves. For your own sakes, help me do this thing!" But the people had no desire to kill others, nor to steal their things, nor to see their own friends and family die in such a war.
In yet another time and place, a charismatic leader decided that the religion of his people, and the laws of his country must be imposed on the neighboring countries. Such a war would perhaps cost a million lives. He went to the people, and said, "They do not believe as we do! They do not respect our God nor our laws! For the sake of our religion and our great nation, we must show them the error of their ways! Come fight this battle with me!
This war was fought. In fact, it has been fought throughout history, again and again in various forms. For tribe, for fatherland, for religion, for gods, for workers, and more. For any cause beyond the personal, humans can be rallied to kill their brothers by the millions. And yet we still pretend that it is ego and self interest which are dangerous.
We have been trained to think that what is right and good is beyond the personal. Therefore the personal, including one's own life and the lives of those who one cares for, can be sacrificed for the "greater good," and we can kill others in the name of that "good" as well. Violence and death is the result of this philosophy.
It is true that humans can and do kill others for purely egotistical and selfish reasons. Common murderers do this, for example. But if she wants to kill on a large scale, a human can never do it alone. She has to be helped by others. That requires that those others have good justifications, because killing people - or even helping those who do so - is not normal nor comfortable.
Only an appeal to some cause greater than themselves can get the people to help in evil on this scale. Only the philosophy of "the greater good" has the power to motivate people to tolerate and support this kind of death and destruction.
How often do you think a Nazi said, "I want to exterminate the Jews because it suits my personal interest." Even those few who might have thought this could not face their peers if they did not find other justifications based in larger causes which they all shared a belief in. Hence it was for the "purity of the race," or for the "fatherland."
Imagine asking the average American in 1943 why he tolerated or supported putting thousands of citizens in concentration camps, just because they were Japanese. How many would say "I just like the idea," or "I was hoping to get some of the property that was taken from them," or "It seemed that it would be good for me." None would say these things. They would talk about "national security," even though most personally never felt any real threat from these innocent people. "Our leaders are doing what's best for our country," some might say, once again delegating their thinking and power to a "greater cause."
Now, explain to me again why we should be afraid of the man who advocates self interest? Where is the danger? His powers over others are limited, and an honest man who seeks his own good will not find it in hurting people in any case. He naturally comes to value and respect the rights of others who seek only their own good as well. Altruism is the real danger here.