Is altruism a fictitious concept?

Society seems to scoff at selfish people. But is there anyone who is really not selfish at all? Is altruism practical?

While some people appear to exhibit unselfish behavior, when you dissect the situation almost always you will find a selfish motive. One of my friend told me about "five why's". Keep asking "why" till you get to the root. Usually you could get to the root when you have asked "why" five times!

I can not comprehend why many people consider saints to be altruistic. Are they really selfless? Would they really pass up their meal to some hungry person on the street? Will they do this day in and day out? May be saint is less selfish than a wall street capitalist. But still selfish, isn't it?

I do not have problem with people being selfish. In fact, its good to be selfish. If people are not selfish, they most likely do not have a motivation to wake up every morning. There is no reason to work hard. Everyone would sit idle and the society would perish in no time!