my conflict with altruism and sanctity of life
Posted by Abaco 6 years, 11 months ago to Philosophy
I had a little epiphany this morning. As many of you know, California is becoming a big Grapes of Wrath camp. Homeless are everywhere now. You can't escape them. Many of them are deranged for whatever reason. I'm a firm believer that, almost always, the big decisions you make in your life are what drive your direction and destination. I've worked so, so hard all my life. I'm doing ok because of it. I ain't that bright, but I've worked hard and managed to stay out of trouble.
In this growing mass of homeless I'm seeing more and more people who probably were just dealt a bad hand in life. Recently, when driving home, I saw a kid sleeping with his bike by the road. Kid appeared to be about 13. If I could have stopped, I probably would have. There's a young lady who I think is couch surfing in my neighborhood. She approached me in our grocery store parking lot begging the other night. Unlike your regular hobo she's beautiful, stunning actually. But, in our short chat I quickly picked up that she's got emotional problems - something going on upstairs that she needs help with. This this morning - I was getting gas in a Safeway parking lot by hobo central on my way to work. I was approached at the pump but a short, little woman who's eyes didn't look healthy, she was bald, and appeared to be hungry. I noticed as she walked away that she was wearing some sort of medical bracelet. On my way out I pulled up and handed her a little cash. I can read people pretty well - very well actually. And, I'm seeing more and more people who are destitute and in need of real help, as opposed to those who are just self-indulgent shlubs who make poor decisions. I'm finding that I can't help but feel real sadness for those have real struggles beyond their control. These are somebody's son or daughter, or mother, and this damned system that I pay tens of thousands of dollars into every year refuses to help them. I'm not altruistic, I don't think. But, I do struggle to turn my back on many of these people. I do wish they'd take all that wealth they're taking from me (the gov) and help these people. It's the love of life, I think, that makes me feel this way.
There's my Jack Handy Deep Thought for the day...
In this growing mass of homeless I'm seeing more and more people who probably were just dealt a bad hand in life. Recently, when driving home, I saw a kid sleeping with his bike by the road. Kid appeared to be about 13. If I could have stopped, I probably would have. There's a young lady who I think is couch surfing in my neighborhood. She approached me in our grocery store parking lot begging the other night. Unlike your regular hobo she's beautiful, stunning actually. But, in our short chat I quickly picked up that she's got emotional problems - something going on upstairs that she needs help with. This this morning - I was getting gas in a Safeway parking lot by hobo central on my way to work. I was approached at the pump but a short, little woman who's eyes didn't look healthy, she was bald, and appeared to be hungry. I noticed as she walked away that she was wearing some sort of medical bracelet. On my way out I pulled up and handed her a little cash. I can read people pretty well - very well actually. And, I'm seeing more and more people who are destitute and in need of real help, as opposed to those who are just self-indulgent shlubs who make poor decisions. I'm finding that I can't help but feel real sadness for those have real struggles beyond their control. These are somebody's son or daughter, or mother, and this damned system that I pay tens of thousands of dollars into every year refuses to help them. I'm not altruistic, I don't think. But, I do struggle to turn my back on many of these people. I do wish they'd take all that wealth they're taking from me (the gov) and help these people. It's the love of life, I think, that makes me feel this way.
There's my Jack Handy Deep Thought for the day...
