![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Barely formed thoughts
Mar. 29th, 2015 09:05 amI have trouble with the idea that either you honor yourself and only yourself, or you are lost among the faceless masses. Humans are tribal, like all other primates. We need each other. Humans who remove themselves from all other human contact go crazy.
Helping each other is a good thing. If you care for someone who needs care, that's a good thing.
Taking care of yourself is equally good. And not just food/shelter/clothing. But taking care of your mind. Pursuing subjects and activities that matter to you is necessary to your well-being.
If, however, you insist on doing everything for someone else, that's bad. You're taking away their identity. If you refuse to take care of yourself, that's also bad. You're an undue burden on the tribe.
But people don't live at those extremes. Most people are helping someone, while simlutaneously needing someone else's help. That's okay. That's how we're meant to work.
The idea that altruism is the death of the soul...just, what? Why? Why does anyone think you have to choose between caring for yourself and fulfilling a role in society?
Yes, you pay taxes on the money you earn. Taxes are the only source of funding for the government. Maybe corporate taxes would be enough, if they were paid honestly. But they aren't paid honestly, so they'll never be enough.
People need each other. They need themselves. These are truths about humanity. Also true is that there are always people who will get away with anything they think they can. Any system that relies on people to be honest and make choices that benefit society will fail. There will always be someone looking to abuse that trust. This is why regulation and organization are so important.
I understand that people don't agree on what unions are doing. But can we really not agree on what they are SUPPOSED to do? Guarantee a fair wage and a safe workplace? If unions were eliminated, that guarantee would go away. OSHA regulations are already flouted in many places. It would only get worse.
Compromise is not bad. You give up some of what you have to be a part of a system that protects you. But not all. Individualism is just as important. You don't pay your taxes with your soul. You don't sacrifice your identity when you skip the cigarette at the school crosswalk. Public schools, public hospitals, public libraries -- these things exist because they do matter.
Being rich does not entitle anyone to better early education or healthcare.
I am bothered by people who work hard for decades and then put their money into the hands of others, who then gamble with that money on garbage investments. I am bothered by a stock market that appears to be controlled by emotion instead of history and statistics. I am bothered by people who live beyond their means, and I am equally bothered by hard sellers who encourage them to do so.
I am bothered by padded spending, by $100 toilet seats. By cash that just goes missing in war zones. By government employees who don't do anything all day.
I'm also bothered by people who want to defund the public arts. These programs may be the only exposure to the world that some people ever have. PBS has value. The Smithsonian has value. Sesame Street and Nova are important.
My love of science and biology comes from watching Wild America on PBS. Art, science, music, history - fine gradients of topics that can't be covered in school because there just isn't enough time.
The P.T. Barnum model, that it is morally wrong not to part a fool from his money, is the true model of a parasite.
Everyone will try to cheat, sooner or later. There SHOULD be rules in place to keep that cheating from hurting everyone else.
We're becoming homogenized. Everyone is selling the same crap as everyone else, made ever more cheaply, because it SELLS and that's what matters. Eat the same food, watch the same shows, read the same books, listen to the same music, watch the same shows, play the same games. Because the purveyors of this crap can afford better advertising.
Whatever happened to patrons of the arts?
We need Carnegie and the Dollar-a-Year Men, and what we've got is E. H. Harriman and James J. Hill.
--------------
Also, Ayn Rand is pretty awful.
Helping each other is a good thing. If you care for someone who needs care, that's a good thing.
Taking care of yourself is equally good. And not just food/shelter/clothing. But taking care of your mind. Pursuing subjects and activities that matter to you is necessary to your well-being.
If, however, you insist on doing everything for someone else, that's bad. You're taking away their identity. If you refuse to take care of yourself, that's also bad. You're an undue burden on the tribe.
But people don't live at those extremes. Most people are helping someone, while simlutaneously needing someone else's help. That's okay. That's how we're meant to work.
The idea that altruism is the death of the soul...just, what? Why? Why does anyone think you have to choose between caring for yourself and fulfilling a role in society?
Yes, you pay taxes on the money you earn. Taxes are the only source of funding for the government. Maybe corporate taxes would be enough, if they were paid honestly. But they aren't paid honestly, so they'll never be enough.
People need each other. They need themselves. These are truths about humanity. Also true is that there are always people who will get away with anything they think they can. Any system that relies on people to be honest and make choices that benefit society will fail. There will always be someone looking to abuse that trust. This is why regulation and organization are so important.
I understand that people don't agree on what unions are doing. But can we really not agree on what they are SUPPOSED to do? Guarantee a fair wage and a safe workplace? If unions were eliminated, that guarantee would go away. OSHA regulations are already flouted in many places. It would only get worse.
Compromise is not bad. You give up some of what you have to be a part of a system that protects you. But not all. Individualism is just as important. You don't pay your taxes with your soul. You don't sacrifice your identity when you skip the cigarette at the school crosswalk. Public schools, public hospitals, public libraries -- these things exist because they do matter.
Being rich does not entitle anyone to better early education or healthcare.
I am bothered by people who work hard for decades and then put their money into the hands of others, who then gamble with that money on garbage investments. I am bothered by a stock market that appears to be controlled by emotion instead of history and statistics. I am bothered by people who live beyond their means, and I am equally bothered by hard sellers who encourage them to do so.
I am bothered by padded spending, by $100 toilet seats. By cash that just goes missing in war zones. By government employees who don't do anything all day.
I'm also bothered by people who want to defund the public arts. These programs may be the only exposure to the world that some people ever have. PBS has value. The Smithsonian has value. Sesame Street and Nova are important.
My love of science and biology comes from watching Wild America on PBS. Art, science, music, history - fine gradients of topics that can't be covered in school because there just isn't enough time.
The P.T. Barnum model, that it is morally wrong not to part a fool from his money, is the true model of a parasite.
Everyone will try to cheat, sooner or later. There SHOULD be rules in place to keep that cheating from hurting everyone else.
We're becoming homogenized. Everyone is selling the same crap as everyone else, made ever more cheaply, because it SELLS and that's what matters. Eat the same food, watch the same shows, read the same books, listen to the same music, watch the same shows, play the same games. Because the purveyors of this crap can afford better advertising.
Whatever happened to patrons of the arts?
We need Carnegie and the Dollar-a-Year Men, and what we've got is E. H. Harriman and James J. Hill.
--------------
Also, Ayn Rand is pretty awful.