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Yes. It takes effort, and it also takes balls (for lack of a more gender-neutral and appropriate word). If you want to get out of the drudgery and soul-hemorra
by jonnathanson 16y ago
Yes. It takes effort, and it also takes balls (for lack of a more gender-neutral and appropriate word).
If you want to get out of the drudgery and soul-hemorrage of the rat race, then you need to be prepared for the risk. Most people aren't. They do the mental math, figure that they need the salary or the stability or the medical coverage too much to risk it, and they take the blue pill. They resign themselves to their fates. And that's fine. It's a respectable and probably smart choice for most people, but it's a choice nonetheless. People shouldn't lose sight of that fact.
- rgraham 16y agoCourage, bravery, bravado, boldness, gusto, audacity, pluck, fearlessness, risk-tolerance, temerity, tenacity, fortitude, nerve, or stoutheartedness work for you? It is indeed a choice. The consequences of reversing that choice get much more complex as you gain responsibilities in life. Ultimately, however, your life is on you. No one else can care like you do.
- jonnathanson 16y agoYes, though as a corollary, we need to remember that the "accumulation of responsibilities" is composed largely (though not solely) of the accumulation of a set of outcomes from a set of prior choices.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago>we need to remember that the "accumulation of responsibilities" is composed largely (though not solely) of the accumulation of a set of outcomes from a set of prior choices Our primary responsibility, if it is really one, is to care for ourselves; we have no choice but to take it. One of the main responsibilities we accumulate is the responsibility to care for ageing relatives. There are other major responsibilities - care for environment, for society - that are not born out of our prior choices (though our ability to handle those responsibilities is greatly affected by our past choices).
- grammaton 16y ago"figure that they need the salary or the stability or the medical coverage too much to risk it...it's a choice nonetheless." You don't see the contradiction here? What if someone is ill and really needs the medical coverage? What if they have dependents? Just because you are fortunate enough to be healthy and relatively responsibility free (if you are), doesn't mean that everyone else is in the same boat, and that people who make a different decision do so because they have infinite choice. This is a big problem with most of the just-world arguments I see about these issues - they never acknowledge that not everything in life is a choice, no matter how much we want to make it so.
- Calamitous 16y agoEverything in life is a choice. Often it's a choice between two bad options-- that's life. Covering your ears and humming loudly at the problem doesn't eliminate your responsibility to address it; nor the consequences for doing so.
- grammaton 16y agoSorry, this one is a tad ambiguous. By "humming loudly at the problem," are you talking about addressing problems in your own life, a'la the dominant theme of this thread, or addressing the problems of capitalism as suggested by the author of the article?
- rick888 16y ago"addressing the problems of capitalism as suggested by the author of the article?" and what problems are those? That not everyone comes out on top? Of course this is the case. I am interested in alternatives that don't involve limiting the success of the people that are actually creating wealth or taking exorbitant amounts of money through taxes. When you've lived long enough, you realize that there aren't many ideas that are truly unique. Most "new" ideas are just old ideas that have been sugar-coated to make them more palatable. So I'm waiting for your new and unique idea that will somehow give people a better chance at life, success, an freedom than capitalism.