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I surmise by some of the tales you have narrated to me that you have had to compromise many times in your trail down which you walk and weighed many out against real value. This is part of the growing up process. We often find that our beliefs or values are often not up to the task or the direction in which we intend to travel.
In a survial situation for which many here are describing we will have even fewer options and choices and will have to struggle very hard to keep the ones we do have. Someone else is going to want them...to take them from us by any means.
Originally posted by Diseria
Indeed. I have compromised many times - compromised my values, compromised my path. I continue to compromise in order to keep the outer peace.
Originally posted by orangetom1999
Yes I too have compromised many times. When I see that something is not working out I take a different tack if the goal is worthy of my time if not I discard the mess. And yes you often must fight hard for the few things which are so worthwhile.
I think though Diseria that you have a very different starting point than do I and some of the others who post on this thread. THis is something I sense ...like radar....
I do not believe that people are basically good. I believe that people and their natures are basically bad. That is my starting point. All of us ..no exceptions. Especially myself.
THe raw material we are made of is lousy material. No amount of education or knowlege is going to change this.
This is why you have problems with this morality. You know what you would like people to be and tend to give many the benifit. But I think you have also at times paid a dear price for these beliefs....as have also many of us.
...you are doing fine here on this thread. I as well as others enjoy your posts and frankness.
Originally posted by Diseria
OrangeTom,
I do not think your words hurtful, or as Dark Elf put it, harsh. Your point of view is not alien to me; in fact, I went from where you're standing to where I'm standing now: I don't see people as inherently good or inherently bad. We're neutral. We have the capability to be anywhere on the gammet from good to evil. And we also have the ability to change our current position...
Our roots are beastly, so we'll take the easy way out whenever possible -- which can (or usually) lead(s) to bad ends (both within and without). But, that does not mean that we completely lack the ability of realizing the various paths, and making conscious decisions about them, about which one we choose to take.
I agree with the Hindus who believe that the physical realm is a realm of pain. Life is pain. But, I don't necessarily think that pain is a good thing, nor a bad thing -- pain is as you take it. If my stomach hurts, I have the choice to whine and moan and be cranky, or to completely ignore it, or to feel the pain and take delight in the fact that I can actually feel an otherwise silent organ. (The latter choice is mine -- how often do we get to feel organs that we'll (hopefully!) never actually see, indeed, that we usually forget we even have?)
Originally posted by orangetom1999
Yes I too have compromised many times. When I see that something is not working out I take a different tack if the goal is worthy of my time if not I discard the mess. And yes you often must fight hard for the few things which are so worthwhile.
Say that I choose to fight for morality. Obviously I am, but extend that to any and all situations (which is part of my internal debate). If that is my path, then how can I turn against it, or deviate from it, and 'go with the flow' by joining everyone else in discarding morality? I'd be going against my own grains, in trying to keep my grains alive!
If something (in my case, morality) is worth fighting for (or maintaining), then the question then becomes: How far am I willing to go?
I do not believe that people are basically good. I believe that people and their natures are basically bad. That is my starting point. All of us ..no exceptions. Especially myself.
See, because (as with most things in life) I sit on the fence, I think that everyone has the potential to be good, to be bad, to do good and bad actions. I refuse to call them one or the other, because I've known bad people who did good things, and vice versa. So, I hafta leave it open ended...
We cannot determine a person's character based on one lone action, be it good or bad. We can only know if a person was truly good or bad by looking at the entirety of their actions and behaviors, at the end of their life.
I include myself in that neutrality, although I'm not very good at giving myself the benefit of the doubt as well as I do others. (That's my character flaw. The one benefit is that I know I will never suffer from arrogance and conceit.) Indeed, it's another baby step...
THe raw material we are made of is lousy material. No amount of education or knowlege is going to change this.
I disagree. The raw material is as it is - neither good nor bad. And without education and knowledge, we'd be hairless apes, but without the massive and intimidating muscles. (In fact, I'd liken us more to hyenas, actually.)
It's from education (and, arguably, mis-education) that we learn to be good or bad, or even what is socially considered good and bad. Knowledge comes with time, experience, and a certain level of self-reflection. These are key to our development... or lack thereof. (In this particular aspect, I subscribe to Confucius... but I'll hafta put that on another post, as I'm quickly running out of room with all my adding/editting! *smirks*)
This is why you have problems with this morality. You know what you would like people to be and tend to give many the benifit. But I think you have also at times paid a dear price for these beliefs....as have also many of us.
Yes, I've been disappointed and hurt many times, by others, by myself. I think that's a fact of life, no matter one's environment or society or culture or education.
It saddens me that I give the benefit of the doubt, and am left holding the ball, so to speak. Reliability and trustworthiness are in a severe shortage.
But, how can I ever hope to see these wonderful qualities return if I do not give people the benefit of the doubt? the chance to prove me wrong? Is it such a bad thing to hold hope, to have faith that maybe, just maybe, people will come around and return to some level of decency?
If I have even a smidgen of faith in myself, in the fact that I can change myself with time (which is slowly developing), then I have to have it for other people, otherwise I leave absolutely no room for change...
...you are doing fine here on this thread. I as well as others enjoy your posts and frankness.
For this, i am grateful. While I've never met any of you face-to-face, don't even know names... I see no point in being dishonest. I learn nothing about myself, about you guys, about people, or even life from lying.
(Although, I will admit that if anyone ever meets me irl, I'm not as elegant in my speech as I am in my writing! Fair warning! )
Originally posted by orangetom1999
Note to all of you this evening. Ive been watching the weather again.
Man oh man!!!! Are you guys going to get a break out there. I just noticed that round two is coming on quickly
Whitewave how are you doing out there...you too Dark Elf??
I decided to look up the local newspaper site to check the weather and it also has a link to nationwide radar sites. I chose one near the Oklahoma/Texas border. Looks like more is on the way.
This time it looks like as it spreads eastward..it till hang more to the south so I will be keeping an eye on the weather closely this week.
I have a second set of Snowmobile gloves. I am thinking I need to hunt them up out in the garage.
Please let me know how you folks are doing out there.
Orangetom
How far indeed? Are you willing to risk your life to fight for morality in an immoral world? If you’re not willing to go along are you willing to go alone?
I, like orangetom, believe that you are coming form a totally different perspective. I’m not sure of your age, but you appear to be young and idealistic. I think what orangetom and I are trying to do is push past your idealism and show the inherent evil that exist in this world. It is an evil that will only be magnified by sit x.
I believe that you have been truly blessed in that you have not been touched by their evil. Unfortunately for those of us who have, we know what these people are capable of doing. Sitting on the fence only gives you a sore bum. There is a saying that “you have to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything.”
If you are willing to risk your life to give others the benefit of the doubt, you may end up losing it.
Keep in mind that civilized behavior only takes place in a civilized society. As our society declines, so does our behavior. When TSHTF, all bets are off. As long as you don’t expect others to behave in a civilized manner, you won’t be disappointed.
I doubt you would be impressed to meet this cynical old woman face-to-face. I respond not to attack, but out of compassion. Guess there is hope for me yet.
Originally posted by Diseria
I don't see how she got banned for _anything_ said on this particular thread. There were no warnings here, and I certainly wasn't offended to have my bubble popped, so to speak.
I'm not very good and surfing around (limited attention span, even more limited time to spend here with skool), so I'm unsure if it was caused by a post elsewhere.
'Tis one of the things that sometimes bothers me -- we never know why. They just disappear.
(where's the 'shaking head' smiley when you need one?)
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