Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Selfishness
Selfishness : Concerned chiefly or only with oneself. Stinginess resulting from a concern for your own welfare and a disregard of others.
Stinginess : a lack of generosity; a general unwillingness to part with money.
Selfishness is evil and if you are a selfish person, you are an evil person. So our present society would have us believe. A serious concern for your own welfare is grounds for being called an evil, heartless bastard. A general unwillingness to part with your own hard-earned money garners you the "stingy" title and places you in a category with dastardly misers like Scrooge or Silas Marner. Who comes up with this crap?
A person works hard to support himself and his family, to provide for their basic needs in the present and for the future, minds his own business affairs, treats everyone with respect, pays his bills and his taxes and causes no one or no government agency any undue burden. He is a fair man and he treats other fairly but he drives a hard bargain and is always looking out for the best purchase for his money. In all respects he is an outstanding citizen yet he wishes to pass the wealth that he has earned through his lifetime and his own efforts on to his children and for that he is branded a selfish, stingy man for even having this desire. It is not enough that he takes care of himself and his own and is only trying to reward his kin with the fruits of his labor. No, he should be forced to share those fruits with others who have been less fortunate in producing any fruit. And the government is all too ready to be the entity that distributes those fruits to people who have not earned them.
Isn't it nice that we have such a wonderful, benevolent government so willing to relieve the "haves" of their stuff so that the "have nots" can get more stuff and be more like the "haves". Until the "have nots" burn through the stuff of the "haves" and once again become the "have nots". Check out some of the stories about the evacuees spending their $2000 checks on gambling, drinking and drugs. I'm curious as to the mind set of these have nots. If one is receiving charity, are these people not being selfish in their own right? Can someone who is a "have not" actually be selfish? Absolutely and I think their selfishness is much more detrimental to themselves and to society than any other.
Ask no quarter, give no quarter. Neither a borrower nor a lender be. Learn how to fish. I know how to fish and I am doing quite nicely. I have made good and bad choices in my life but I ask no quarter from anyone. I choose to be generous in my own time and to whom I desire. I would call myself a "have". I didn't start out as one but I have become one through my own efforts. I prefer to have what is mine and to leave the have nots to their own resources. What say you? They have no resources? It's a pity.
Anyone who has developed the attitude that life owes them something is not worthy of my help. Other people may feel free to help these folks but leave me out of it. That means government help as well because the government has no stuff of their own, they take it from all of us. I don't want my government helping the have nots either with my money. Of course, I have no say in this matter, however. Why is a government agency more able to decide where my help should go than I am. I want to be selfish sometimes but I cannot be because the damn government is always stepping up in my place and giving away this or that to people over which I have no say.
Why do people think that government is the best decider of what charity is beneficial and who should be helped? Government is a big drain on all of us and anytime they get involved with wealth distribution, it becomes a red tape fiasco fraught with fraud and inane regulations. I want to be selfish with what I give to the government. I can't do that either. The appetite of politicians is so large that they need each and every one of us who actually produce wealth of some kind to take from to support their kind generosity.
You see, government is not selfish and is not stingy. The government will help whoever they feel like whenever they feel like it however they feel like because they have all of the producers to draw from in their endless quest to be compassionate to everyone less fortunate than those who are productive. It is so easy to be helpful and generous with someone else's money. And for some reason our government feels like it has a whole passle of people it needs to be generous toward.
I believe that if everyone of us were a bit more selfish and strove harder to take care of ourselves and our families that our nation would be a much stronger and more stable place to live. When I hear evacuees worrying about how long their free hotel rooms will last, I get bothered. When I hear South Floridians complaining that government water and ice didn't arrive fast enough, I get angry. Everyone who lives in Florida should be selfish enough to take care of their own needs before a hurricane situation arrives. We cannot be dependent on government to rescue us from everything. Just as we cannot live with and be taken care of by our parents for a lifetime, we also cannot expect government to come our help in every situation. We need to fend and think for ourselves.
So whenever I hear talk about someone being selfish or stingy anymore, I tend to cringe. We should always be thinking of our own personal interests first before anything or anyone else. We cannot be of any use to anyone else if we are not cared for in the first place. Listen to an airline flight attendant describing how to use the drop-down breathing masks in case of emergency. They say to situate the mask on yourself first before assisting your child or anyone else. The reason is obvious, you will not be able to help anyone else if you are not able to help yourself first. What a principle! Why can't we carry that forward into everyday life?
In reality, I am a very generous person with my resources, but I am picky about who I am generous toward. I think that is my business. I earn my way in society, I have the right to choose the people I want to help in some way. I believe that giving of yourself is a noble gesture and earns you many good karma points on the scale of good and bad. But giving means just that, giving, willingly and without coercion. When someone else gets in the way of that act, it ceases to be charity. A government cannot be generous because generosity to some requires payment from someone else.
A government also cannot be selfish, because it has no self to be aware of or to be pleasured. But governments are made up of do-gooder types who "feel", not think, that a government must be compassionate and not offend anyone and help everyone who has less than others and just go around doing good deeds every day. The only problem is, government can only use its people's wealth. The compassionate people making these generous decisions are using their emotions to make decisions that are entirely illogical but they sure "feel" good about them and therefore must be justified.
Give me the selfish man anyday especially when it comes to government rule. I can rest assured that a selfish man will be a prepared man and a logical man. I like the creative side of my brain but I think the logical side is truly more practical and useful in daily life. Egoism is actually a practical matter and has far more upside than idealism. Certainly there is room in this world for both. But in the matter of governing, selfishness is the preferred method.
Just my dime for the day,
OH
Stinginess : a lack of generosity; a general unwillingness to part with money.
Selfishness is evil and if you are a selfish person, you are an evil person. So our present society would have us believe. A serious concern for your own welfare is grounds for being called an evil, heartless bastard. A general unwillingness to part with your own hard-earned money garners you the "stingy" title and places you in a category with dastardly misers like Scrooge or Silas Marner. Who comes up with this crap?
A person works hard to support himself and his family, to provide for their basic needs in the present and for the future, minds his own business affairs, treats everyone with respect, pays his bills and his taxes and causes no one or no government agency any undue burden. He is a fair man and he treats other fairly but he drives a hard bargain and is always looking out for the best purchase for his money. In all respects he is an outstanding citizen yet he wishes to pass the wealth that he has earned through his lifetime and his own efforts on to his children and for that he is branded a selfish, stingy man for even having this desire. It is not enough that he takes care of himself and his own and is only trying to reward his kin with the fruits of his labor. No, he should be forced to share those fruits with others who have been less fortunate in producing any fruit. And the government is all too ready to be the entity that distributes those fruits to people who have not earned them.
Isn't it nice that we have such a wonderful, benevolent government so willing to relieve the "haves" of their stuff so that the "have nots" can get more stuff and be more like the "haves". Until the "have nots" burn through the stuff of the "haves" and once again become the "have nots". Check out some of the stories about the evacuees spending their $2000 checks on gambling, drinking and drugs. I'm curious as to the mind set of these have nots. If one is receiving charity, are these people not being selfish in their own right? Can someone who is a "have not" actually be selfish? Absolutely and I think their selfishness is much more detrimental to themselves and to society than any other.
Ask no quarter, give no quarter. Neither a borrower nor a lender be. Learn how to fish. I know how to fish and I am doing quite nicely. I have made good and bad choices in my life but I ask no quarter from anyone. I choose to be generous in my own time and to whom I desire. I would call myself a "have". I didn't start out as one but I have become one through my own efforts. I prefer to have what is mine and to leave the have nots to their own resources. What say you? They have no resources? It's a pity.
Anyone who has developed the attitude that life owes them something is not worthy of my help. Other people may feel free to help these folks but leave me out of it. That means government help as well because the government has no stuff of their own, they take it from all of us. I don't want my government helping the have nots either with my money. Of course, I have no say in this matter, however. Why is a government agency more able to decide where my help should go than I am. I want to be selfish sometimes but I cannot be because the damn government is always stepping up in my place and giving away this or that to people over which I have no say.
Why do people think that government is the best decider of what charity is beneficial and who should be helped? Government is a big drain on all of us and anytime they get involved with wealth distribution, it becomes a red tape fiasco fraught with fraud and inane regulations. I want to be selfish with what I give to the government. I can't do that either. The appetite of politicians is so large that they need each and every one of us who actually produce wealth of some kind to take from to support their kind generosity.
You see, government is not selfish and is not stingy. The government will help whoever they feel like whenever they feel like it however they feel like because they have all of the producers to draw from in their endless quest to be compassionate to everyone less fortunate than those who are productive. It is so easy to be helpful and generous with someone else's money. And for some reason our government feels like it has a whole passle of people it needs to be generous toward.
I believe that if everyone of us were a bit more selfish and strove harder to take care of ourselves and our families that our nation would be a much stronger and more stable place to live. When I hear evacuees worrying about how long their free hotel rooms will last, I get bothered. When I hear South Floridians complaining that government water and ice didn't arrive fast enough, I get angry. Everyone who lives in Florida should be selfish enough to take care of their own needs before a hurricane situation arrives. We cannot be dependent on government to rescue us from everything. Just as we cannot live with and be taken care of by our parents for a lifetime, we also cannot expect government to come our help in every situation. We need to fend and think for ourselves.
So whenever I hear talk about someone being selfish or stingy anymore, I tend to cringe. We should always be thinking of our own personal interests first before anything or anyone else. We cannot be of any use to anyone else if we are not cared for in the first place. Listen to an airline flight attendant describing how to use the drop-down breathing masks in case of emergency. They say to situate the mask on yourself first before assisting your child or anyone else. The reason is obvious, you will not be able to help anyone else if you are not able to help yourself first. What a principle! Why can't we carry that forward into everyday life?
In reality, I am a very generous person with my resources, but I am picky about who I am generous toward. I think that is my business. I earn my way in society, I have the right to choose the people I want to help in some way. I believe that giving of yourself is a noble gesture and earns you many good karma points on the scale of good and bad. But giving means just that, giving, willingly and without coercion. When someone else gets in the way of that act, it ceases to be charity. A government cannot be generous because generosity to some requires payment from someone else.
A government also cannot be selfish, because it has no self to be aware of or to be pleasured. But governments are made up of do-gooder types who "feel", not think, that a government must be compassionate and not offend anyone and help everyone who has less than others and just go around doing good deeds every day. The only problem is, government can only use its people's wealth. The compassionate people making these generous decisions are using their emotions to make decisions that are entirely illogical but they sure "feel" good about them and therefore must be justified.
Give me the selfish man anyday especially when it comes to government rule. I can rest assured that a selfish man will be a prepared man and a logical man. I like the creative side of my brain but I think the logical side is truly more practical and useful in daily life. Egoism is actually a practical matter and has far more upside than idealism. Certainly there is room in this world for both. But in the matter of governing, selfishness is the preferred method.
Just my dime for the day,
OH
# posted by OH @ 7:17 AM 
