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Had an Epiphany

Posted by $ Abaco 9 years, 1 month ago to Philosophy
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This is embarrassingly simple. While listening to a podcast where somebody was railing about stuff going on in DC something dawned on me that brought me back to the last philosophy class in college. It was Philosophy 331: Ethics. As an engineer I didn't belong. I took it for the fun of it. With what I'm seeing going on here in California and in DC, combined with all the riots, fistfights on planes, ISIS throwing lbgt off of tall buildings, parents being threatened for not giving up a seat that they paid for on a flight, on and on...it hit me. "Leave each other alone." Pretty simple, huh? I do try to teach my kids the value in this regularly. Imagine if that was a basic value that society just cherished and instilled in their kids - agreed to live by. Just leave people the hell alone. When you see it violated, take a stand. The news would get so boring. People would live longer.

Instead, we agree to be bossed around by people in fancy suits that other people voted for, by rent-a-cops with glocks, etc. What a concept, I know. Just leave other people alone.

That's the first Jack Handy Deep Thought I've had in a long time. Back to reality...

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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 1 month ago in reply to this comment.
    I am in Madison, WI. I've traveled to CA a lot, mostly to San Jose and Bakersfield. In Bakersfield people stop and take note of a light rain but ignore small earth quakes. I really liked Yosemite. I drove from there to Vegas. The terrain reminded me of another planet.

    Madison is nice. People are friendly, most people are educated, and there's a culture of stoicism and hard work. It's not for everyone because of the liberal politics and continental climate.

    I always hear that CA is crazy, but I never hear how. The fact that there are so many chemicals "known to the state of CA" to be hazardous, though, gives me an inkling.
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  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 9 years, 1 month ago
    That's kinda what our forefathers were trying to get at.
    Also, that's the theory behind Mark Hamilton's Prime Law...which, I have observed, underlies our constitution.

    Leave me alone, if you screw with me, your toast. If I screw with you, I'm toast...with all this toast, we're gona run out of butter and jam.
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 9 years, 1 month ago in reply to this comment.
    I see your point. Whereabouts do you live? I ask because I'm near the capitol of Crazyfornia and often seen institutional abuse of the citizenry here.
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  • Posted by mminnick 9 years, 1 month ago
    Your phrase has been said many ties befor. to quote a few
    Do unto others as you would have them do to you
    Don't do that which is hurtful to others
    Do only good, not evil
    The list is long and most likely incomplete. I do like yours. It is simple and direct and covers the whole gamut .
    Well Said.

    +1
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 1 month ago
    This is all true. The good thing is we're doing it. A human being today is far less likely to experience violence in various forms (including fights, riots, and murders) than in most of history. We're far more likely to be left alone and our rights respected: Our rights to say unpopular things, to protect ourselves, to own/control property, to privacy, to a fair criminal justice system. We're less likely to be judged by our physical attributes and group identity.

    We are FAR from perfect, but the arc of history bends slowly toward leaving one another in peace.
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