I have encountered such attitudes as that wanting to save the world is a front for wanting to rule it, or that service and altruism lead to dictatorship. I seek to contend with these beliefs.
Science is driven by service; and it is at the root of most of what business sells. Without science business would be nothing more than exchange of basic commodities at the level it was in medieval Persia.
Teaching is driven by service. Without teachers the businessman would not have the knowledge that he needs to do his work, and most people would be unemployable.
Military and police are driven by service. They enforce national borders and property rights, and without them economic activity would be impossible.
These professions don’t make very much money, and people who think that responsibility is about being financially well-off will see these people as irresponsible or as losers. Yet without them prosperity would not exist.
Even to the yuppie himself.
I have been a yuppie myself, and I didn’t find other yuppies to be more responsible than scientists or teachers I’ve known. They made more money; but the money they made was based on the work of scientists, and the reason they could be yuppies were owed to their teachers and their professors. Many people in service-oriented professions don’t mind it when other people do well as a result of their work. When they do revolt – correctly – is when they are seen as losers or irresponsible or anything of the sort by the people to whom they have given knowledge or education.
Probably the most irresponsible thing that a person can do is leave the world a worse place than he has found it. And we see this with many of this worldview. They do not care what they are doing to the planet. They poison the place and leave it worse for their descendants. They are far less responsible than even the drug addicts, who at least only hurt themselves. Instead they make the world bad for everyone else; and that is a terrible thing to do.
Should business and economic activity exist? Of course it should. I do not recommend moving away from business and technology; I recommend using better technologies. Both nature and civilization are amazing accomplishments, and both should be in the best shape that they can be.
At least scientists understand this. But it will take a lot of work to get the yuppies to understand such things as well.