labmath2 Posted June 1, 2016 Posted June 1, 2016 How far are you willing to go for your cause? Can I work for the government or take government assistance while speaking out against the goverment? Are you willing to participate in the political process while criticizing its inherent immorality? I realize the discomfort I am willing to suffer or any cause is not that high. I have never given to any cause and i still go to great lenghts to avoid discomfort in my personal relationships. I work for people i dislike, i interact with family i tolerate and i struggle to live life based on what i know rather than my immediate emotions. I recognize that changing these things is not as simple as recognizing these facts (especially after recently reading The Drama Of The Gifted Child by Alice Miller), which is why i am doing self work. To put it another way, recognizing the rat is more afraid of you and can't do you much harm does not mean you wont jump on a chair the next time you see a rat in the room. I bring up all that because i want you to understand i am not any better in that respect than anyone else. I am curious to know if others recognize this in themselves. I don't mean to point fingers at anyone, but the most recent example of this on the forums i can think of is jpahmad's commitment on voting. He doesn't strike me as ignorant about the influence his vote will have on the outcome or the likelyhood of any politician delivering on their promise. Yet, he comes up with comments advocating voting. Does he know something i don't know or is it hope? To rephrase, is he acting on information or emotion?
Kevin Beal Posted June 1, 2016 Posted June 1, 2016 In a situation of coercion, there is no moral responsibility. I would rather not pay taxes that go toward bombing children in 3rd world countries, but I will be threatened if I don't pay up. This is a different situation as compared to situations you do have direct control over. Whether or not you stand up to people in your personal life is your choice, but it's a very different kind of inconsistency. Whether or not JP is inconsistent about voting is different than appeasing people in your personal life who stand opposed to who you are. If JP's voting is of no consequence anyway, that's just more reason to think of these inconsistencies differently. If you hide who you are from the people close to you – there's no way that won't have an effect on your self esteem. 2
Aaron727 Posted June 6, 2016 Posted June 6, 2016 How far you're willing to go is up to you but just don't pretend like you want to be free. If you do not act then admit you want to be enslaved. I have empathy for any difficult history you had but we all had rough childhoods and a bunch of criminals have us enslaved and can pretty much do whatever they want, so I'm sorry but the fate of the world is a little more important than your discomfort. 1
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