My point is, when the world is drowning in such people

Are you saying the world is presently drowning in such people, or if it were to be drowning in such people?

the problem is hardly that no-one has spread "the great principle" loudly or far-enough.

It's hands down the biggest problem; knowledge needs to be gained so therefore, someone needs to be willing to teach it. Once upon a time the value of selflessness, love, and it's logic was no where near as assimilated within the hearts of men until people like Socrates or Jesus inspired others to even consider rising above what we would otherwise be more inherently drawn to if not for the knowledge of their influence: hate and selfishness.

My mother, her mother, my step-mother, mother-in-law and my wife's aunts aren't "exceptionally bad saints", they are performing a role society has inculcated in people for generations. Even my wife seems to think self-care stops at hygeine, going to the gym and not letting her job get in the way of family events, and I had to beg her for years on the latter.

Idk, obviously I can't say for sure but I'm getting the impression you may be over exaggerating due to your obvious bias.

When you couldn't even "grasp" the content of my first comment

I could grasp it just fine, but I wasn't clear on it as you write and explain things in a way that didn't make it easy to understand initially, so I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what you were talking about first before giving a response.

I do things the "saints" in my live are afraid to do, both for safety and "what will people think of me?" reasons, like pick-up hitch-hikers, give money, food(upon request) and free rides to pan-handlers

Ah, so it's ego that clouds your judgement. How do you know for a fact these people in particular you're referring to, who don't represent all the good hearted people everywhere as a whole, don't do anything like those you listed? Based on what evidence? Could arrogance and hate be leading you your assumptions to become fact without genuinely knowing for sure?

its that they deserve better

Who deserves better?

never said altruism was bad, or that the people I've described are "the problem", but YOU are presumably not one of them.

My post isn't about altruism at all. I'm sorry you got that impression. And the people you're referring to are the farthest thing from the epidemic you're dressing it up as.

I never said altruism was bad

I agree. But you definitely heavily implied it.

Au contraire, yours is a message they love to listen-to, so wouldn't it be nice if you could sprinkle in a word about self-care and treating one's-self on occassion?

Absolutely not. They get enough of that from the hypocrisy [the acting] of their contemporaries so it's a miracle they're even willing to be selfless to its extremes to begin with. Besides, to what degree are these people just really depressed? And you're not capable of seeing it due to your contempt for them and hate for the perspective I'm putting down. I'm not saying this for a fact, I'd obviously have no idea, just a suggestion. I would say however that in order to most efficiently love others, one must love themselves; the more one loves themself, the more effectively and more willing they are to love others. That said, I agree with the ancient Greeks: "Nothing too much (in excess)" - the second of three maxims chosen to be inscribed into the entrance of the temple of Apollo where the Oracle of Delphi resided in Ancient Greece.

... but no, let's go six comments-deep and spend dozens of paragraphs refuting anyone who does mention those things as if that person were preaching the word of Xenu or, shudders, prosperity gospel.

Well to be fair the first two was me trying to make clear what you were initially trying to get across. And I'll go as many comments as you need, friend. It sounds frustrating and idk what it's like to have a family that's apparently selfless to the point where it becomes a problem. I'd agree with you on that by the way, altruism can go sour provided people who haven't been educated on the topic of selflessness get a hold of it. Or maybe these people are simply capable of seeing something you can't due to their experiences in life. Idk, that's what led me to the edge of selflessness myself, gaining the knowledge of the experience of the hate, evil, and selfishness that still flourishes throughout the world. Once you get a good taste of it for yourself it's tough to look away from the value and potential of the only cure: love and selflessness.