Monday, March 31, 2008
responsibility
i have a choice to go two roads. one road i live a somewhat miserable and insane life in which i am constantly haunted by the uncertainty of every aspect of life and other nagging narcisistic issues. on the other path i endure great sacrifice in order to protect the rights of others to do anything they damn well please - and most of the time what they please is drinking, getting cancer, and being generally stupid and inconsiderate, but only to the point of being annoying, and not to the point where the law has any useful bearing on it. so which life does a person like me have the responsibility to? i have the resources to live a fairly comfortable existence and take advantage of the gifts of autonomy our forefathers and law personell have bestowed upon me, but i have the awareness such that i understand a certain responsibility to my fellow people. which life does the aware man rightly lead?
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2 comments:
i am convinced that neither life is a legit one. being insane and miserable is a terrible path (especially if you decide to be a cop, theres enough crazy cops out there...) Like i said the other day i really dont think an aware person has the responcibility to allow others to get cancer, drunk, and stupid. I really dont see you at a fork in the road, its more like a crazy intersection with like a million streets (like that one in sea cliff when you drive back up from the beach.) why should you be narcisistic either. i had a conversation with one of my professors about selfish pursuits, and his bottom line was why deny youself what you like. selfishness can be used as an inspiration for things that might help other people. narcissism can get ridiculous and backwards very quickly. selfishness could lead to other things. i think i understand your ideas on individual autonomy, but i cant understand why you would want to help the idiots you cant stand. i also cant understand how being a cop helps protect those people either. if you wanted to protect their right to party become an cool RA and let them smoke pot and drink all they want. have you read the writtings of the founding fathers? you should try to get a hold of them, especially if youre basing a lot of you future decisions on the assumption that the current america is the one they wanted. i feel you can be a gadfly without impeding on others' autonomy. life just isnt as simple as a fork in the road.
i responded to this the other day, but now im looking back here and what i said isnt here. and i dont feel like retyping it.
the gist was, among other things, that everything in life is necessarily a fork in the road, its our choice of forks that defines who we are; the choice isnt really between the whole milk and the skim milk in front of me in the fridge, rather its the choice to do absolutely anything. but we cant process that, so we narrow it down. try to choose between 3 things. youll instinctively narrow it down to two favorites without even knowing. in major life choices, we may have to abstract things. it seems like a lopsided decision: theres so many things to do other than life in the law, and theres only so few lives in the law. but nonetheless ive made my own fork because i believe it to be a defining decision in the life of an aware american: do i help in protecting the rights of my countrymen, or do i take advantage of those rights that are granted to me by those who are in the law.
its not the only choice. its just the choice that interests me right now, and its the most logical division i can make. it doesnt have to be everyones fork; most peoples fork is bachelors or masters in business? mine is one for the conscious man who sees the difference of the two lifestyles while being a conscious person about morality, etc.
the main point is that every decision is a fork by human nature. try choosing between mercedes, lexus, and bmw. most people will immediately rule out lexus before they even know theyre doing it just because its not as renowned a brand. as for my own for and how i choose to treat it - its entirely subjective. its how i want to treat my life. you dont need to understand whats going on in my head, as i dont need to understand whats going on in yours to respect that you have a different belief about ethics and this specific decision as it pertains to the life of an american.
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