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"ask yourself if Charlie has ever had any ideals outside of looking out for number one." Problem is, if he doesn't, who will? I think that one thing that might
by abraxasz 13y ago
"ask yourself if Charlie has ever had any ideals outside of looking out for number one."
Problem is, if he doesn't, who will? I think that one thing that might have changed in our generation, is that we have the distinct impression that nobody has our back. I'm not saying that politics are more messed up than they used to be, it's just more blatant. Nobody gives a fuck that people are dying in the streets, that we're invading countries to enrich defense contractors, and that we're bankrupting our own country just "because we won't be disrespected". So one guy decides that, fuck it, he has one life, and he'll have his fun. You may call this guy coward, selfish, anything. And maybe you're right. My guts agree with you. My head tells me he's on to something.
- eli_gottlieb 13y agoAnd my head tells me that if you think defecting on a Prisoner's Dilemma at the national scale is "smart", our civilization is dying.
- abraxasz 13y agoI like the analogy with the prisoner's dilemma, although I think the situation is slightly different. It'd be like playing the game against someone who's repeatedly shown that he'll betray you whenever possible. The optimal strategy in that case is not cooperation. As for the civilization is dying thing, I'm not prescient, so I can't give a clever answer. But even if it is so, that has no impact on what the optimal behavior is for someone purely selfish. Like good king Louis XV used to say, while bankrupting the kingdom of France: "After Me, the Flood".