ok, a few things - first of all, i think that it is interesting that you call selfishness biological - actually, since humans evolved into beings with the conciousness that is now our biological hallmark, altruism has actually been SELECTED for as our evolution continues. and not just saving your own children, etc - it only makes sense that if you work together to protect your fellow human beings, you rown life will be easier because of the recipracal (sp?) aid that will return to you. true, this can be seen as selfish, but in the long run, everyone is cared for. according to darwin at least, and i have to say that i agree with him.
i believe very strongly that we are raised to believe (because of thinkers like freud, mainstream darwin, etc) that human beings are inherently selfish, but that that need not nessicarily be the case. communism may have failed, but what about socialism? a lot of europe is a lot more socialist than we are and i think that they are a damn sight better off. anyway, i'm off topic.
back on - i don't want to do good in the world to give myself a warm fuzzy feeling. obviously i can only speak for myself, but i truly feel that it is my duty to help people who are suffering where and when i can. i've grown up poor, i've been to third world countries and see what at least a small part of that situation is like. if i were walking next to a river and i saw a child fall in, i wouldn't jump in to save that child to give myself a warm fuzzy feeling - i would jump in because as a moral human i would have no other choice.
as to liberalism inspiring laziness - capitalism creates a system where we all too often are taught to judge our worth as people on how much we can earn. and THAT, perhaps even more than patriotism, is bullshit. consider for a moment that the liberal viewpoint is the one that traditionally values education for everyone - don't you think that free, high quality education would encourage intellectual and scientific growth? perhaps rather than assuming that liberalism makes people lazy, we could consider a situation where incentive lies not in how much you can make, but in the right to spend time and recieve support in ways that are personally fulfilling.
more over, , as a liberal, i don't endorse handouts, i don't endorse ways to "let people keep being lazy." rather, i believe that money should be spent on providing support for young parents, giving them ways to care for their children while at the same time getting an education. i support providing healthcare to EVERYONE reguardless of whether or not they can pay for it, because a bunch of sick people can't have very much to offer to the whole. i support creating jobs for human beings rather than machines, even though machines are cheaper - if people could find work, they wouldn't NEED a wellfare system nearly as much. i support giving tax breaks to small busineses because it's a lot easier to take pride and invest yourself in what you do if you aren't a cog in a multinational machine like wallmart.
i know i have more to say but i need to reread your other post first
Alright - lessee... there are things that I fundamentally disagree with, and also things that I fundamentally agree with, but simply think that the majority of people take the wrong path to get there. There are only a couple of specific things that I want to address, though. (mainly b/c I *am* at work, after all!)
capitalism creates a system where we all too often are taught to judge our worth as people on how much we can earn. and THAT, perhaps even more than patriotism, is bullshit.
This depends. It terms of capitalism, yes, you're right - because when you say "earn" you mean monitarily. Money as a driving force is precisely why capitalism is bullshit. However, the ability to "earn" (in terms of things *other than* money) is something that drives us all. People can't be GIVEN a sense of self-worth! People need to be allowed the chance to achieve things on their own. The reason communism didn't work wasn't because of greed, but pride. People need to recieve, for example, merit-based raises, rather than the identical salary to the lazy slob sitting next to them. People fundamentally (I believe) want their worth to be determined by who they are and what they make of themself, rather than by an accident of birth. The liberal "agenda" (or whatever) *used* to understand this, but they've swung too far in the opposite direction, in misguided attempts to "correct the past" -- but I'll get back into that in response to the "affirmative action" thing in the other comment...
if i were walking next to a river and i saw a child fall in, i wouldn't jump in to save that child to give myself a warm fuzzy feeling - i would jump in because as a moral human i would have no other choice
As a human being with your particular, individual set of morals you would have no other choice. I think this is what it comes down to in a LOT of cases for me. I'm a firm believer in subjective morality. If you'd like me to go into that more, let me know...
i believe very strongly that we are raised to believe (because of thinkers like freud, mainstream darwin, etc) that human beings are inherently selfish, but that that need not nessicarily be the case. communism may have failed, but what about socialism? a lot of europe is a lot more socialist than we are and i think that they are a damn sight better off. anyway, i'm off topic.
back on - i don't want to do good in the world to give myself a warm fuzzy feeling. obviously i can only speak for myself, but i truly feel that it is my duty to help people who are suffering where and when i can. i've grown up poor, i've been to third world countries and see what at least a small part of that situation is like. if i were walking next to a river and i saw a child fall in, i wouldn't jump in to save that child to give myself a warm fuzzy feeling - i would jump in because as a moral human i would have no other choice.
as to liberalism inspiring laziness - capitalism creates a system where we all too often are taught to judge our worth as people on how much we can earn. and THAT, perhaps even more than patriotism, is bullshit. consider for a moment that the liberal viewpoint is the one that traditionally values education for everyone - don't you think that free, high quality education would encourage intellectual and scientific growth? perhaps rather than assuming that liberalism makes people lazy, we could consider a situation where incentive lies not in how much you can make, but in the right to spend time and recieve support in ways that are personally fulfilling.
more over, , as a liberal, i don't endorse handouts, i don't endorse ways to "let people keep being lazy." rather, i believe that money should be spent on providing support for young parents, giving them ways to care for their children while at the same time getting an education. i support providing healthcare to EVERYONE reguardless of whether or not they can pay for it, because a bunch of sick people can't have very much to offer to the whole. i support creating jobs for human beings rather than machines, even though machines are cheaper - if people could find work, they wouldn't NEED a wellfare system nearly as much. i support giving tax breaks to small busineses because it's a lot easier to take pride and invest yourself in what you do if you aren't a cog in a multinational machine like wallmart.
i know i have more to say but i need to reread your other post first
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capitalism creates a system where we all too often are taught to judge our worth as people on how much we can earn. and THAT, perhaps even more than patriotism, is bullshit.
This depends. It terms of capitalism, yes, you're right - because when you say "earn" you mean monitarily. Money as a driving force is precisely why capitalism is bullshit. However, the ability to "earn" (in terms of things *other than* money) is something that drives us all. People can't be GIVEN a sense of self-worth! People need to be allowed the chance to achieve things on their own. The reason communism didn't work wasn't because of greed, but pride. People need to recieve, for example, merit-based raises, rather than the identical salary to the lazy slob sitting next to them. People fundamentally (I believe) want their worth to be determined by who they are and what they make of themself, rather than by an accident of birth. The liberal "agenda" (or whatever) *used* to understand this, but they've swung too far in the opposite direction, in misguided attempts to "correct the past" -- but I'll get back into that in response to the "affirmative action" thing in the other comment...
if i were walking next to a river and i saw a child fall in, i wouldn't jump in to save that child to give myself a warm fuzzy feeling - i would jump in because as a moral human i would have no other choice
As a human being with your particular, individual set of morals you would have no other choice. I think this is what it comes down to in a LOT of cases for me. I'm a firm believer in subjective morality. If you'd like me to go into that more, let me know...
Reply
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