Many people in our post-religious world are skeptical of the categories of “good” vs. “evil.” And they should be. Most of us inherit duty-based moralities that have tradition behind them, but little enough clear reasoning. And since most inherited religious moral codes differ from modern peoples’ intuitions and inclinations, most people are even more likely to write off “good” and “evil” as outdated notions. But we all still ask the question “how should we act?”
Tag: action
What is Voluntaryism?
I was, in fact, challenged as to “What is a voluntaryist?” I will, from time to time, read a piece, in the SIG for Writers to which I belong, where I will claim to be a “voluntaryist.” Although curiosity will kill the cat, someone decided to query how and why I was using the word, “voluntaryist.”
The Craving for Wholeness That Drives Our Actions
There’s a sense of incompleteness in our lives. We have felt it since adolescence, at least, if not since early childhood — it’s a feeling that something is wrong with us, that something is missing, or that we’re missing out on something in the world. It’s a feeling of disconnection or loneliness from others, a sense that we don’t fit in. A feeling of moving through the world in isolation, unfulfilled, without a sense of intimacy with others, without a sense of purpose in what we’re doing.
School Writing vs. Real Writing
The entire education apparatus, from kindergarten through college, teaches skills relevant to how to succeed in academia, and nothing relevant to how to succeed in the free-market. Take writing as one example.
The March Challenge: One Small Change, One Big Impact
We’ve just started the third month of the year, and with the realization that this year is slipping past us so quickly … I’m issuing a challenge to all of you. My March Challenge is to pick one small change that will have a big impact on your life. One small change you can do every day. Then do it every single day, at the same time every day.
Hippies With Money
The fact that massively influential multimillionaires (sometimes billionaires) in the soon to be dominant crypto space spend time on Twitter calling each other names, using coarse language, and angrily arguing on live YouTube broadcasts is a radical deviation from past generations of leaders in business, tech, and finance.
Don’t Self-Identify As Something You Don’t Respect
When you find ourselves in the middle of doing something you don’t respect, it’s all too easy to identify as a person with things you don’t respect: flakiness, klutziness, cowardice, dishonesty. You might even go so far as to label yourself. Stop doing this.
How to Develop a Mind That Clings to Nothing
If someone irritates you, it’s because you are attached to a particular way you want them to behave, and when you don’t get that way, you are unhappy. If your mind didn’t cling to what you wanted, you would be fine with how they were acting. In fact, you might have compassion for them, as you could see they are suffering.
The Tragicomedy of Russiagate
Let’s assume — purely for the sake of discussion since no evidence has been made public — that the Russians did it. Note, first, that the “it” looks like the product of the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. I’m not going to do what Johnstone, Glenn Greenwald, Aaron Maté, and the late Robert Parry have done so well so many times, namely, catalog all the inane acts the Putin-guided Russian intel agencies are said to have committed in order to bring down America. (Start here.) Suffice it to say that if that’s the best Putin can come up with, we have little to worry about.
A Letter to ‘Students Demand Action’ from a Gun Owner
I understand. You’ve witnessed — far too often at first hand and in the most terrifying circumstances — the violent deaths of your fellow students. You refuse to accept that that’s just how it has to be. You’re organizing for change. You deserve to be heard. Don’t let anyone talk down to you or minimize your concerns. You want action. I don’t blame you. But it’s important to consider what kind of action you want, how to go about getting it, and what it will accomplish.