One of these days we're gonna have to reckon with the fact that "money that I spend which does not directly benefit me is a waste" is a popular sentiment.
I think we should state plainly that this is selfish on its face.
And stupid when you have awareness which extends beyond your nose.
I think we should state plainly that this is selfish on its face.
And stupid when you have awareness which extends beyond your nose.
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Fox was created FOR this very purpose. There are more now, but they are the ones responsible.
They tell people out in the bayou that their problems come from foreigners, minorities & gays. That democrats give their tax money to them & Ukraine, instead of Hawaii fire rebuild, etc.
Democrats: Assisting those at the bottom and helping them succeed floats the entire economy makes US stronger, more competitive & successful.
Republicans: Not one dime of my money goes to anyone else.
"Not my problem"
It is easy to be charitable when there is abundance, but with many living check2check it becomes difficult to rationalize
USAID helps tamp down pandemics, but they deny the one they lived through. They refuse to connect the dots. Next time Marburg will have them bleeding from every orifice but the best you can hope for is "doesn't look like anything to me."
My mother-in-law’s motto, “nobody helped me, so I’m not helping anyone else.” She’s lonely and miserable.
America stopped being great when the American dream became achieving material wealth.
If we truly are the richest country on Earth then we should share those riches.
But one thing I'm hoping we can discuss one day is that the constant pursuit of more is also selfish.
To enact real change, we may need to start marketing public goods to not only appeal to the selfish, but to actively hide the fact that other people will benefit as well.
Right wing: the tax that I pay must benefit me personally and directly
Left wing: the tax that I pay must benefit the society at large and especially those with less means
I've found that people tend to assume their whole tax burden is applied to each thing, rather than split ten thousand ways.
it inherently benefits the obscenely wealthy more than anyone else
(1. So far, DOGE has not found any actual fraud, and is acting unlawfully.
2. Most of what they have found has been gravely misrepresented and was already public information.)
Foreign aid is just a way to gain influence.
I'm perfectly OK with people I don't know getting help. My charitable giving is not waste
"Healthy people shouldn't have to pay to heal the sick, but non drivers should pay for road upkeep, atheists and non-Christians should pay for state-run religious institutions*, and pacifists should pay for weapons"
*this is a bit UK-centric
Some people are SO hateful they would rather hurt everyone, including themselves, over letting people they hate get help. It's so irrational and harmful. Wish I knew how to reach out and help break them out of the negativity.
If it helps, take pride in that.
The United States has not sufficiently shown it understands its duty of care for the rest of the world. And it has also done unimaginable harm.
I don't think we deserve to have that kind of soft power right now.
If, and only if, we can live up to that ideal do I think we deserve influence.
and this "actually it kind of benefits you too" selfishness route is how you teach the real lesson:
Providing for the common good benefits all of us.
Imagine you're able to convince them today. Now imagine someone crafts a better cynical argument tomorrow.
This is my basis of "I should not have to trot out those arguments"
This might be a moment where we need to wield the tool of shame.
my point is only that people tend to "rugged individualism" their way out of social programs by saying "you can give all you like to charity" without recognizing that social programs are one billion (hyperbole) times more effective and subject to greater oversight
I might join them when it comes to things like cronyism, kickbacks, military industrial complex, etc
But most people who need to hear this message don't think about those things
- Lauren Morill
Something is not worth doing unless it benefits them personally. A problem does not exist unless it affects them directly.
The "I got mine, so screw you" attitude is actively leading to the downfall of the US.
https://vote.withyourwallet.app
Just getting people curious is a part of it. If everyone can look around at all the stuff that happens in their daily lives which they benefit from but don't actively engage in they might see what society is a little more clearly.
and the bootstrap myth.
Achilles heels of American life
https://youtu.be/GJG2SFfv0ow?si=vNjaq145tbQFkzIz