等価交換
back in high school, fullmetal alchemist was really big. if there was ever a phrase in anime that left a sufficiently large impression on my impressionable teenage self, it would be 等価交換 a.k.a. "equivalent exchange." if only that worked IRL.
i'm not by any means religious, but n years of christian /catholic school religion classes instilled in me some bullshit notion of the "law of reciprocity" a.k.a. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Luke 6:31)...
life lessons have taught me the people who internalize this are the people most often to get victimized and taken advantage of by others. it's not even about having high moral standards...
1) even if you have the common decency to not claim other people's ideas as your own, you shouldn't be deceived to think that other people think the same way. case in point: having my idea stolen and entered into an ideation competition without my knowledge. even certain more "righteous" institutions take far more credit for things than they really deserved to have taken. is it so much to ask to be fair about attribution?
2) catholic school is full of little angels and saints, right? how about having your money stolen, your homeworks tossed into a random wagon out of your sight, being subjected to a shit ton of racist statements, etc.? catholic school = some of the worst bullying you could imagine. :D i feel bad for all those kids who really had their dogs eat their homeworks. you talk about assimilation? how the fuck does that happen if you're beaten down to a pulp when you don't even know how "politically incorrect" some of the things that are said to you actually are?
3) don't bother having anybody's backs, because they'll place their own self interests above yours, even when it's not really a time of crisis for them, and your desperate calls for help are unanswered. common occurance: you missed a deadline? blame the other guy!
4) i don't generally start conversations with strangers unless they "greet" me first. when i do talk to them, i pretty much always start the conversation positively. who knows what kind of shitty day they've been having, right? but apparently, it's too hard to expect other people to not be dicks and ruin a potentially ok day on your end. :D lack of common decency/empathy where it is most needed. :D or at least... if you're being accusatory towards me due to frustration with things outside of my control, recognize that you are and apologize for it. that's what i'd do. all it takes is 5 letters: "sorry."
you know what? pessimists are optimists who've had their ideals shat on. :D moral of the story: protect yourself; don't feel bad about throwing someone under the bus if that person deserves it. think *very* carefully about who you can trust or depend on. hypocrites who say otherwise are just that; hypocrites.
let's stop debating about PC culture and just focus on what it means to be a decent human with 1000% more empathy for other individuals than people currently have. then maybe 等価交換 can be a thing, people might actually be able to get along, we won't have incompetent people in positions of power, and i can amend my "moral of the story."
rant too long to post on twitter. woot.
i'm not by any means religious, but n years of christian /catholic school religion classes instilled in me some bullshit notion of the "law of reciprocity" a.k.a. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Luke 6:31)...
life lessons have taught me the people who internalize this are the people most often to get victimized and taken advantage of by others. it's not even about having high moral standards...
1) even if you have the common decency to not claim other people's ideas as your own, you shouldn't be deceived to think that other people think the same way. case in point: having my idea stolen and entered into an ideation competition without my knowledge. even certain more "righteous" institutions take far more credit for things than they really deserved to have taken. is it so much to ask to be fair about attribution?
2) catholic school is full of little angels and saints, right? how about having your money stolen, your homeworks tossed into a random wagon out of your sight, being subjected to a shit ton of racist statements, etc.? catholic school = some of the worst bullying you could imagine. :D i feel bad for all those kids who really had their dogs eat their homeworks. you talk about assimilation? how the fuck does that happen if you're beaten down to a pulp when you don't even know how "politically incorrect" some of the things that are said to you actually are?
3) don't bother having anybody's backs, because they'll place their own self interests above yours, even when it's not really a time of crisis for them, and your desperate calls for help are unanswered. common occurance: you missed a deadline? blame the other guy!
4) i don't generally start conversations with strangers unless they "greet" me first. when i do talk to them, i pretty much always start the conversation positively. who knows what kind of shitty day they've been having, right? but apparently, it's too hard to expect other people to not be dicks and ruin a potentially ok day on your end. :D lack of common decency/empathy where it is most needed. :D or at least... if you're being accusatory towards me due to frustration with things outside of my control, recognize that you are and apologize for it. that's what i'd do. all it takes is 5 letters: "sorry."
you know what? pessimists are optimists who've had their ideals shat on. :D moral of the story: protect yourself; don't feel bad about throwing someone under the bus if that person deserves it. think *very* carefully about who you can trust or depend on. hypocrites who say otherwise are just that; hypocrites.
let's stop debating about PC culture and just focus on what it means to be a decent human with 1000% more empathy for other individuals than people currently have. then maybe 等価交換 can be a thing, people might actually be able to get along, we won't have incompetent people in positions of power, and i can amend my "moral of the story."
rant too long to post on twitter. woot.