THIS IS SOME BULLSHIT

mymanmickey

New member
Ah, your ideology is showing. ;)

A quick aside, my personal beliefs are that the ideas of "the individual" and "free will" are illusions maintained by ideological state apparatuses to breed complacency and self-assurance. Basically, believing that you matter, that you're special, and "capable of overcoming" makes for more obedient subjects.

I guess the "Individual" exists insofar that there is never anyone quite like anyone else(due to the unpredictable results of a combination of influences), but to use the word individual in the strictest sense is to assume that men are completely responsible for their identity and their actions, which is simply not true. In this essence, the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps sense," the "Individual" certainly does not exist.

Someone "overcoming poverty" happens just enough, and only barely enough, that we can use them as an example to justify inaction against regimes that perpetuate cycles of poverty, and injustice.

"Feel Good Stories" are just prevalent enough to keep us inoculated from many of the struggles of our fellow man.

And "Free Will" is a joke. Nobody has complete agency, and as such, your will is never "free."



Then we are in agreement here.


Yes, but you can deliver the advice without the venom of "well you're retarded." To this effect, your input would only be constructive, and you would avoid falling in the trap of reinforcing negative self-image.


See point above. While I am aware that you did also give good, solid advice, that does not mean it negates the fact that you were also actively reinforcing his behavior. Again, you can deliver advice and aid without malice of any kind.



Of course not, but most of you were condemning him as stupid with your word choice. You did not say "Your actions are reprehensible, you should avoid that."

Read through the thread again and tell me in all seriousness with your macros and word choice, that most of you were not implying that he was an idiot, as well as condemning his actions?

Actions should always be considered separately of the individual to insure absolute "fairness."



See above. :D

"It is not what a man is that concerns me, but what he can become." -Jean-Paul Sarte



Exactly, you can condemn the actions without calling the person themselves stupid, moronic, etc. But can you read through this thread, and tell me in all honesty that many of you were simply condemning actions, and not the man himself?



You couldn't. This man deserves that chance as well. We know nothing about him except for his actions, and thus, it is unfair for us to condemn anything but his actions.



I think we're still in agreement here.



No, again, of course not, but go through this thread and tell me, in all honesty, that many of you were only labeling his actions, and not the man himself, as moronic?

Even if it is true, what good does calling the man "stupid" do?
 
I understand where you're coming from. I really do, and to a certain extent I agree with you. I suppose I'd like to revise my personal definition of "individual" to meaning a combination of societal influences as well as personal choices. I don't believe "men are completely responsible for their identity and their actions", but they have to be held responsible for a good chunk of it.

And regardless of whatever good logic there is behind your argument (and regardless of my agreement with much of it), what you're saying now seems to fly in the face of much of what you've said before (outside of this thread) in terms of everyone being held responsible for their own actions. I was under the impression that you believed in people taking ownership of themselves and what they do.

People may very well not be entirely responsible for their actions, but if we don't hold them responsible, then who? Ultimately, someone must answer to/suffer the consequences of whatever actions took place. And seeing as there's no structured or truly logical way to hold society as a whole responsible, the only reasonable person to put the "blame" on (for lack of a better word) is the person who took said action in the first place.

Besides, if everything you said in regards to "free will" is true, and all of our seemingly individual choices are merely manifestations of countless societal influences and nothing else, then what is the point of making choices anyway? Why not just stand around, aimlessly waiting for something to happen? I mean, if we're really so meaningless and incredibly subject to outside influence, why not just lay down for the rest of our lives?

It's okay if I never do my homework, 'cause it's all the influential figures in the school that made me slack off, not my own will.

Or better yet, let's go and kill everyone who annoys us! I mean, is isn't our own choice, right? Society decided for us, and ultimately, it doesn't matter!

If my mom gets sick and is away for months in the hospital where her two year old son isn't able to have any contact with her, I guess we should just stop the treatment and let her die. Cut off chemo, take away her pills, and fuck physical therapy, 'cause ultimately it just doesn't fucking matter, now does it?



True, but I don't see any and all negative comments as holding "malice". And though my negative comments regarding his actions were never meant to be malicious, I'm sorry if they came off in such a way.



I don't support every statement made in this thread, nor did I ever claim to speak for every single person who has posted in here. I only mean to speak for myself, and keeping with that statement, I've gone over the thread and read all of my own posts.

Here are the two posts that I could definitely see you disapproving of in terms of how I refer to the OP:



^This is an observation that I stand by. The way I read this comment (as well as the way I meant for it to be read) is that I believe his seemingly pointless rebellion is stupid, and that he comes off as immature in my mind.

So, I meant to call his action stupid, not him. And as for calling him immature, well, I don't see that as a particularly malicious statement, seeing as personally I believe it to be true as well as something very much changeable.

As my grandfather used to say "Honey, ya can't fix stupid". Now, ignorance, immaturity, avoidance of responsibility, all of these things can be remedied, and it seems to me that the best way for the OP to look at these words is as constructive criticism.

I certainly have had many experiences (and still do) where I've done something very immature, and been told how immature it was. And although I stomped my feet and pouted at the time, I remember it later on and - for the most part - came to the conclusion that yes, I was being childish. So I made an effort to change.

Another post of mine:



Now, this is only a fraction of the post it was taken from, and ultimately it was more meant to aid in the telling of a joke to another member. And that was insensitive. But, it too is meant to be aimed more towards what I believe to be a low level of maturity than to stupidity.

But regardless of that, the OP is eighteen years old. He is legally an adult, and although I believe in kindness and compassion, that doesn't mean that people will be or even should be nice all the time. Each of us must learn to live with criticism and hardships, no matter how big or small.

So, although I believe in giving everyone a chance and being as civil as possible, I still say insensitive things every once in a while. And the OP, as an adult, needs to deal with that.

Another post:



^I don't see anything particularly degrading about this post.

The thing he did was stupid. Not him.

His resistance was moronic. Not him.



I agree.



None. And I don't believe I ever did call him stupid. Merely some of his actions. I think that's evident in my previous post regarding separation of the person and their actions.
 
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I see you've posted something totally irrelevant. Wrong thread maybe?
 
Oh, absolutely. An individual must be held accountable for the choices he makes. I was attempting to highlight the need for understanding the reason why a man would make those choices, and to address those reasons, rather than just punish the man.

Punishing the man, despite his responsibility does not address the causes of this behavior.



Like I said, I have always been a proponent of individual responsibility. By all means, Corrupter must be held accountable for his actions. However, we must also be responsible, and acknowledge our part in that process. Why is it he felt the need to act in such a way? We need to address those problems, and the causes of those problems, and so on all the way down the chain.

You see, Corrupter taking responsibility provides an example to others who would do similarly. This is some form of deterrence for any future aggressors.

If we acknowledge our responsibility as a society for producing Corrupter, we can address our failings in that capacity, and potentially, fix the problem. This is also deterrence.

I think both are necessary, and not mutually exclusive.



Ah, you're falling into the trap of binary oppositions, or "either/or" mentality. My question is, why can't we all acknowledge our responsibility? That's the only way to effect a genuine change.



I think you can answer your own question, and that's the beauty of it. We make choices out of the one's presented to us, because it's better than the alternative. That alternative being death, and an embrace of nothingness. I would rather have some choice, than not at all.




See above, individual responsibility, and social responsibility are not mutually exclusive, rather, I think that both are necessary.



Well, you tell me, in another thread preferably, as this is an extreme derailment, but what does it matter? Ultimately, her death won't mean anything to the universe. When we're all dead and gone, nothing any of us ever did will ever matter.

But, don't discount me as nihilistic, as I'm not. The actions we do take, undoubtedly matter to those around us, and that is enough for me. It should be enough for all men. Yes, there is no "absolute truth" or "meaning to life."

But there doesn't have to be. Simply because it is not absolute, doesn't mean truth and meaning don't exist, they're just highly subjective, and fleeting.

Besides, there is something noble, to me at least, about fighting against the nothingness and absurdity that is life, even if that ultimately means nothing, because to me, and the people I fought for, it meant everything. Even if it only meant everything for the duration of our lives. :D



Fair enough.



I never said you did, but remember, my first post wasn't aimed at you. It was just aimed generally at this thread. :D



Oh, undoubtedly. I was just saying that the overall vibe of this thread was not constructive criticism. Compassion is vital, as it distinguishes man.



I never said otherwise, I just said that you can deliver those without venom, and I believe that thoroughly.



I'm not claiming to be perfect. I have said many things with the intent to hurt, and looking back, I have always regretted it. I'm sure I will at some point in the future, too. Undoubtedly, I will regret it then, too.

Does that make me a hypocrite? Yes. Am I willing to live with that? Yes, because I am taking responsibility for my insensitive actions, and actively trying to prevent them.

We're not perfect, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for anything less.
 
Pick your battles, man. I'm all for legalizing marijuana (even though I don't use it) but it's not really something worth being a martyr over. (Assuming that's what you were trying to do.)
 
there are no such thing as individuals. There are only leaders/founders, and followers. to be an individual you truly have to be truely different and sooner or later someone else will think its cool or interesting and start to kill the individualism. to put it in a short way
 
Wow. You have so fucking much to be proud of. You're going to look back on your youth later in life (assuming you make it far enough to gain a bit of maturity) and realize how fucking stupid you were. Being arrested twice and turning 18 in jail are nothing to be proud of.

Hope the pot was worth losing your freedom. :rolleyes:
 
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