I agree with the author of this article. Our value to others lies in what we’re able to offer. You’re only worth what you’re able to contribute towards the greater good, and the level of compensation you receive will be reflected by how valuable your contribution is.
Lot of tough truths there. Can’t argue with any of it. Which doesn’t stop me finding it depressing. Perhaps I’m just too far gone to see the effort as worthwhile.
Getting a trophy for simply showing up seems pretty vacant, awards shouldn’t be given for arriving. You should earn the trophy based on the skill exhibited in your performance.
We’re getting soft as a society. All these kids were told they’re special and they can accomplish anything, when the truth was they’re mediocre at best and they’re destined for a series of failures. Whatever.
Survival of the fittest will separate the pretenders from the contenders. Let it all play out, nature (and time) will figure it out and set us all straight.
The idea of getting prizes at all often seems pretty vacant to me, but then I never was one for competition. I guess something’s wrong when you spend more time feeling bad for those who lost out than feeling good for your own victories.
Pretender or contender, we’re all just puppets dancing to the tune of the universe, our strings soon to be cut.
I won’t shoot the messenger, but I don’t have to buy into that capitalist garbage. A person has higher value than what they are providing the world in that moment. Those are the rules.
I have value, I have contributed things of value, and those are separate things.
If I cease to contribute, if I actually take more to upkeep than I am worth, my community refuses to allow me to die. Believe me, I have been so bold as to ask. They say my life is worth more than things.
See, that is how a value economy really works. Everyone gets it backwards, they think that whatever the lowest bidder is willing to pay is the price. That only is the case if the seller is either desperate or stupid. We sell to the highest bidder we can find. That is how FUCKING MONEY is made. Don’t lecture me about money, I am in the 87th percentile of fucking wealth. I wasn’t given it either, this wealth is all my fucking sweat and tears.
I’ve made money by finding things others don’t value, and finding people who do place value in those things. I can take a backpack out of a thrift store and sell it right away and make a profit. Do people honestly not get how stupid money is? Money thought that investing in houses people couldn’t afford was a good idea. Before that it thought that investing in everyone who builds an internet company was a good idea. Before that it undervalued the service industry. I could go fucking back, if I had the data, to the beginning of time about how men have mismanaged money, and destroyed jobs and productivity as a result.
People have value. One day money will all dry up. Everything dies, even people, but at least people are capable of fucking love. A thing cannot love you, it just fucking exists.
Thank you! You have the right attitude. Too much of society is based on productivity, possessions and popularity. I help out family, friends and strangers when I can by being a loving and caring person. You are right, money will be gone, then what? Are you going to join the evil forces when they offer you things? That’s what many people will do, sell their souls. Everything is going to dry up like you said and we are all going to die. What are you dying for? Good or evil? Are you willing to fight against the evil we face or are you going to take the easy way of the world and be a part of it? When we die, there isn’t just nothingness. I’m sorry. You have to answer for your decisions.
It’s like trying to spread a message on social media, but you’re yelling into the void because all you see are people talking about money, hot girls, all the wordly things that will NOT matter when you are dead and have to answer to God.
I can’t bring myself to read anything else on here, but damn, @ Morris… it just sounds like you’ve given up in the galactic spectrum.. I don’t blame you, though, but myself. How’s the oil spilling by the way.
After centuries of navigating my way through the galactic spectrum, I’ve found that ape based hominoids are the most precarious species to deal with.
The only oil I spill these days is onto my stomach. (After I wake up with morning wood).
Super boring.
Your comment is all about how others exist to make your life meaningful, yet you fail to comment on how your existence provides meaning to others.
Did you even click on the link?
No. It’s all about you and getting your needs fulfilled. Fuck everyone else, my needs are all that matters.
Narcissists are so uninteresting.
I read the link and I’ve read that article before in the past as well.
Did you intend to post on someone else’s comment because I didn’t say anything about other people making my life meaningful.
I don’t want to “use” others and I don’t want them to use me (unless it’s employers and I’m making money). So, better off solo.
I’m not a narcissist. I’m an introvert, I don’t have much extra energy to expend on other people.
I can say I’ve felt like I genuinely cared about others, but no one gives a shit. (Unless they also say they care about you, which according to that article just means there’s something you can give them.)
He should chill out *here* on this site, but there’s a back story behind this and it’s fair enough if he’s mad at me in general now (more than he was already).
Again, I know everyone is sick of seeing the two of us exchange comments, particularly if they sound contentious, so I’m going to try to become less of a presence here.
Peace
As HeartlessViking said, capitalist garbage. It suits violent people.
I wish communism had won after cold war. But perhaps world wasn’t ready for that yet.
Communism demonstrably doesn’t work. It’s a top-down approach that wastes people’s potential. It has failed everywhere it’s been tried. I’m not saying capitalism is great, I just can’t believe people are still advocating communism, when history is littered with examples of its failure. The latest being Venezuela.
Yeah it didn’t work that’s why it didn’t win. But I like its ideas. It is better than capitalism and moves towards socialism. I WISH it to win. Maybe the problem is not in its theories but in the way people are. Capitalism works because it’s nothing new. People have lived in this way from beginning. Communism brings something new. That’s why it is difficult to implement.
I don’t think any political system can prevent the biggest beasts in the jungle from rising to the top and keeping everyone else down.
My problem with communism and socialism is that they don’t acknowledge this, and they make it worse.
I have experienced countless examples of it in my home country, Denmark, which is more left-wing than most countries. There are the loudmouthed, generally ignorant leaders of the powerful unions. There are the loudmouthed ignorant citizens, product of a school system that values opinion over fact. And there are the loudmouthed left-wing politicians who use left-wing politics as a vehicle for their own self-promotion.
The worst part is that I am actually on the left of the political spectrum. But my experience is sadly that socialism empowers bullies. Witness the whole debacle at American colleges atm.
So much I agree with.
Seems that capitalism would work if the ruling extremely wealthy showed at least a modicum of humanity.
And implementing socialism might work if the government was even partially incorrupt(not in the pockets of the extremely wealthy).
And communism-why bother. Probably has the greatest potential for inhumanity. The voice of the people is taken away completely eventually(not that my capitalist America hasn’t experienced that-phony elections)and the regulatory elitists seem to always fall into corruption regardless how well intentioned they might have been to begin with. A brutal regime usually arises to deal with anyone who criticizes.
The “beasts” is right.
The strong will voraciously feed while the weak bleed.
What a ravenous fucking world. The human aspect anyways.
I think I’ll go live with the animals. At least they only feed when they’re actually hungry.
I don’t know much about the writer of the article.
But taken solitarily, the message I got was to manifest your potential in order to gain forward momentum in life, not just complain about how you aren’t a piece of shit, and wonder why no one is sucking your dick.
Sure, it’s kind of the old stoic mantra, or the serenity prayer of AA, or Steven R. Covey’s Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern.
Work on what you can change (you), and don’t worry about what you can’t (others).
Again, my problem is that there are simply people in life who need help. I feel like people like David Wong don’t acknowledge that. It’s a typical macho ethos about the solitary hero. You can see it in pretty much every movie targeted at a male audience. Just the way he’s so bowled over by that scene with the brass balls and the real estate salesmen.
It obviously works better to try to make yourself useful than to just complain about everything. But we are humans, not machines. And science allegedly shows that people respond badly to the kind of in-your-face harsh truths he dishes out, and that concepts like self-compassion work better.
So yeah, I appreciate you posting it, and it’s not that I disagree per se, it’s just that I dislike the way he puts it, and I dislike him for worshipping this school of hard knocks ethos.
I just wanted to apologise for being so negative. Bad day. I think it’s cool that you post things like this – interesting stuff that makes you think. You seem like a curious person, I respect that.
36 comments
I agree with the author of this article. Our value to others lies in what we’re able to offer. You’re only worth what you’re able to contribute towards the greater good, and the level of compensation you receive will be reflected by how valuable your contribution is.
Lot of tough truths there. Can’t argue with any of it. Which doesn’t stop me finding it depressing. Perhaps I’m just too far gone to see the effort as worthwhile.
Getting a trophy for simply showing up seems pretty vacant, awards shouldn’t be given for arriving. You should earn the trophy based on the skill exhibited in your performance.
We’re getting soft as a society. All these kids were told they’re special and they can accomplish anything, when the truth was they’re mediocre at best and they’re destined for a series of failures. Whatever.
Survival of the fittest will separate the pretenders from the contenders. Let it all play out, nature (and time) will figure it out and set us all straight.
The idea of getting prizes at all often seems pretty vacant to me, but then I never was one for competition. I guess something’s wrong when you spend more time feeling bad for those who lost out than feeling good for your own victories.
Pretender or contender, we’re all just puppets dancing to the tune of the universe, our strings soon to be cut.
I won’t shoot the messenger, but I don’t have to buy into that capitalist garbage. A person has higher value than what they are providing the world in that moment. Those are the rules.
I have value, I have contributed things of value, and those are separate things.
If I cease to contribute, if I actually take more to upkeep than I am worth, my community refuses to allow me to die. Believe me, I have been so bold as to ask. They say my life is worth more than things.
See, that is how a value economy really works. Everyone gets it backwards, they think that whatever the lowest bidder is willing to pay is the price. That only is the case if the seller is either desperate or stupid. We sell to the highest bidder we can find. That is how FUCKING MONEY is made. Don’t lecture me about money, I am in the 87th percentile of fucking wealth. I wasn’t given it either, this wealth is all my fucking sweat and tears.
I’ve made money by finding things others don’t value, and finding people who do place value in those things. I can take a backpack out of a thrift store and sell it right away and make a profit. Do people honestly not get how stupid money is? Money thought that investing in houses people couldn’t afford was a good idea. Before that it thought that investing in everyone who builds an internet company was a good idea. Before that it undervalued the service industry. I could go fucking back, if I had the data, to the beginning of time about how men have mismanaged money, and destroyed jobs and productivity as a result.
People have value. One day money will all dry up. Everything dies, even people, but at least people are capable of fucking love. A thing cannot love you, it just fucking exists.
Thank you! You have the right attitude. Too much of society is based on productivity, possessions and popularity. I help out family, friends and strangers when I can by being a loving and caring person. You are right, money will be gone, then what? Are you going to join the evil forces when they offer you things? That’s what many people will do, sell their souls. Everything is going to dry up like you said and we are all going to die. What are you dying for? Good or evil? Are you willing to fight against the evil we face or are you going to take the easy way of the world and be a part of it? When we die, there isn’t just nothingness. I’m sorry. You have to answer for your decisions.
It’s like trying to spread a message on social media, but you’re yelling into the void because all you see are people talking about money, hot girls, all the wordly things that will NOT matter when you are dead and have to answer to God.
Amen
I can’t bring myself to read anything else on here, but damn, @ Morris… it just sounds like you’ve given up in the galactic spectrum.. I don’t blame you, though, but myself. How’s the oil spilling by the way.
After centuries of navigating my way through the galactic spectrum, I’ve found that ape based hominoids are the most precarious species to deal with.
The only oil I spill these days is onto my stomach. (After I wake up with morning wood).
This why I don’t have friends. I don’t want to be a commodity to people. Nothing is real, I’ll provide for myself, then I’ll die.
The end.
Super boring.
Your comment is all about how others exist to make your life meaningful, yet you fail to comment on how your existence provides meaning to others.
Did you even click on the link?
No. It’s all about you and getting your needs fulfilled. Fuck everyone else, my needs are all that matters.
Narcissists are so uninteresting.
I read the link and I’ve read that article before in the past as well.
Did you intend to post on someone else’s comment because I didn’t say anything about other people making my life meaningful.
I don’t want to “use” others and I don’t want them to use me (unless it’s employers and I’m making money). So, better off solo.
That way no one will hate me. 🙂
I just meant that you’re a narcissist who cares primarily about yourself and whomever else you can fool into joining your team.
No one hates you except for people who know you. (Myself excluded, I just feel sorry for you).
0h
Stable as Uranium.
*yawn emoticon*
I think narcissists are great. Everyone I’ve ever respected was a narcissist, at some level.
I’m not a narcissist. I’m an introvert, I don’t have much extra energy to expend on other people.
I can say I’ve felt like I genuinely cared about others, but no one gives a shit. (Unless they also say they care about you, which according to that article just means there’s something you can give them.)
Wow, aggressive much, Morris? Chill out.
He should chill out *here* on this site, but there’s a back story behind this and it’s fair enough if he’s mad at me in general now (more than he was already).
Again, I know everyone is sick of seeing the two of us exchange comments, particularly if they sound contentious, so I’m going to try to become less of a presence here.
Peace
Yawn, orgasm, both are the same with you people .
People are People – Depeche Mode
(Playing that now)
As HeartlessViking said, capitalist garbage. It suits violent people.
I wish communism had won after cold war. But perhaps world wasn’t ready for that yet.
Pardon me for saying so, but that is a dumb wish.
Why so?
Communism demonstrably doesn’t work. It’s a top-down approach that wastes people’s potential. It has failed everywhere it’s been tried. I’m not saying capitalism is great, I just can’t believe people are still advocating communism, when history is littered with examples of its failure. The latest being Venezuela.
I agree with muspelhem. I hate everything about capitalism, but people are shit, so it’s the best option we have.
Yeah it didn’t work that’s why it didn’t win. But I like its ideas. It is better than capitalism and moves towards socialism. I WISH it to win. Maybe the problem is not in its theories but in the way people are. Capitalism works because it’s nothing new. People have lived in this way from beginning. Communism brings something new. That’s why it is difficult to implement.
I don’t think any political system can prevent the biggest beasts in the jungle from rising to the top and keeping everyone else down.
My problem with communism and socialism is that they don’t acknowledge this, and they make it worse.
I have experienced countless examples of it in my home country, Denmark, which is more left-wing than most countries. There are the loudmouthed, generally ignorant leaders of the powerful unions. There are the loudmouthed ignorant citizens, product of a school system that values opinion over fact. And there are the loudmouthed left-wing politicians who use left-wing politics as a vehicle for their own self-promotion.
The worst part is that I am actually on the left of the political spectrum. But my experience is sadly that socialism empowers bullies. Witness the whole debacle at American colleges atm.
Sometimes I think I would be happier as an African bushman.
So much I agree with.
Seems that capitalism would work if the ruling extremely wealthy showed at least a modicum of humanity.
And implementing socialism might work if the government was even partially incorrupt(not in the pockets of the extremely wealthy).
And communism-why bother. Probably has the greatest potential for inhumanity. The voice of the people is taken away completely eventually(not that my capitalist America hasn’t experienced that-phony elections)and the regulatory elitists seem to always fall into corruption regardless how well intentioned they might have been to begin with. A brutal regime usually arises to deal with anyone who criticizes.
The “beasts” is right.
The strong will voraciously feed while the weak bleed.
What a ravenous fucking world. The human aspect anyways.
I think I’ll go live with the animals. At least they only feed when they’re actually hungry.
I’ve read this article a couple of times in the past, and I honestly don’t respect David Wong.
Because it is so easy to tell others what to do.
It is a lot harder to help them do it.
And he hasn’t done that.
But others have, and funnily enough, I rarely hear them espouse the kind of out-of-touch, bootstrapping, Randian idiot ethos he does.
I don’t know much about the writer of the article.
But taken solitarily, the message I got was to manifest your potential in order to gain forward momentum in life, not just complain about how you aren’t a piece of shit, and wonder why no one is sucking your dick.
Sure, it’s kind of the old stoic mantra, or the serenity prayer of AA, or Steven R. Covey’s Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern.
Work on what you can change (you), and don’t worry about what you can’t (others).
Again, my problem is that there are simply people in life who need help. I feel like people like David Wong don’t acknowledge that. It’s a typical macho ethos about the solitary hero. You can see it in pretty much every movie targeted at a male audience. Just the way he’s so bowled over by that scene with the brass balls and the real estate salesmen.
It obviously works better to try to make yourself useful than to just complain about everything. But we are humans, not machines. And science allegedly shows that people respond badly to the kind of in-your-face harsh truths he dishes out, and that concepts like self-compassion work better.
So yeah, I appreciate you posting it, and it’s not that I disagree per se, it’s just that I dislike the way he puts it, and I dislike him for worshipping this school of hard knocks ethos.
I agree. I think the only help you can really give people is a hug once in a while.
Hey man
I just wanted to apologise for being so negative. Bad day. I think it’s cool that you post things like this – interesting stuff that makes you think. You seem like a curious person, I respect that.
All the best