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[maddict]

So I've been reading a lot of The Economist lately. I'm bored in Clarksville, so I've been renewing my roots with old periodicals. In the midst of all these crises, I've been relying on my usual sources (Democracy Now!, Indymedia, Amnesty International, Environmental News Network). Financial markets, food prices, exchange rates, natural

Comments

[indubitablydyl]

I kind of wonder when you think America was going "forwards." It seems like, starting from the revolution, you had selective democracy/slavery etc., then a civil war, then industrialism/nationalistic Western expansion, then another war, then wanton hedonism followed by economic decimation, then another war, then a period defined by social naivette, witch hunts, and conformity, a period of social turmoil, another war and Watergate, the 80s + 90s (decent years by many standards, but arguably contributing to the materialism, consumerism, and complacence we're paying for now and for years to come), then Bush and more war. It's almost as if, by some standards, America started with an ideal and has been sinking ever since.

As for self-interest, it really depends on your definition (which we've talked about before). As you know For me, every action a person takes is self-interested in that, if I do something good for another person, it's because I'll feel guilty, feel good, feel it's logical, etc.; I can't separate myself from my actions. Like you said, you had needs even if you didn't consciously recognize them.

The "act in my own interest, as long as it doesn't hurt others" is where I've been leaning. I'm still going into teaching, because I enjoy people (most of the time), and I like engaging and helping when I can, in ways I feel comfortable doing. But it's as much for me (I'll enjoy it and can feel satisfied with it) as for anyone else, which, I think, is a pretty good compromise.

I don't know if you've read "A Different Voice," but the ethics laid out in it are pretty attractive. I don't fully embrace them, but the "stages" identified and reasons before them are fairly engaging and pertinent to this discussion.

For awhile now, I've seen it as hypocritical to try to make others happy while I'm not happy or promoting my own happiness myself, which helped with the guilt, I think.

Of course, I wish I could say all of this helped my mental health, but I really think that having a steady, reliable, kind girlfriend was the key for me. I imagine your mileage varies.

[maddict]

Just based on the kind of laws we've been able to get passed, the climate in Washington is becoming more and more regressive as we sink deeper into the black hole of the War on Terror. We could be taking progressive action to meet the challenges of the day, echoing the Endangered Species Act or the Green Revolution or any of the other examples of government, industry, and science working together to improve society on a truly historic scale. But instead, we're turning into a paranoid theocracy. I'm not optimistic, to say the very least, that a Democratic White House can change that. There's only so much you can do in eight years.

I'll look into "A Different Voice". I'm still negotiating border treaties between my happiness and the rest of the world's, though. As for steady relationships, I haven't really had luck with consistent girlfriends...ever, come to think of it. I mean, I really can remember the last time there was a girl I would openly rely on, or feel like I was getting deep emotional support from. It's sad to think about, but it's really just been friends and sexual partners punctuated with a lot of unrealized infatuation. Le sigh. But who knows? Maybe summer will be more promising.

I do find a lot of genuine fulfillment from work and writing, and maybe taking classes in communications and working more closely with people in my field of choice will be better for me. I'd like to be a political writer, and I'd also like to teach kids how to read. Literacy has always been close to my heart. But I guess there's only a certain kind of fulfillment that a satisfying career can give you.