School violence, abortions, protests.. is this the world?

[DarkBlue]

Well, there aren't that many kind people, heh. Kindness isn't wrong. It's Rare.

[Herr Mullen]

Please stop the self-righteousness. It does no good, and merely makes you sadder. If the world were truly so bad, "they" would already have imprisoned most of us and shut down this site.

There should be no complaining about human nature. Humans are just packs of impulses and desires, including the desire to do good, the moral impulse. Quite a damn few people act on it, and you shouldn't defame them.

You have no cause for depression, as these seeming catastrophes in fact only come to your mind by virtue of "the overreporting of the negative." People emphasize and publicize the bad things that happen, and so we hear of them the most. Every generation thinks they live through the Apocalypse, but none ever do or will.

Now sing from Monty Python... "Always look on the bright side of life..." I will award cookies and bonus points for crucifying oneself while singing.

Hurrah!

It's interesting that a few of you are trying to justify kindness as wrong.

Let's take this 'Free Hugs' campaign. Did a lot of people do it just as an impulse? Yes. But what about the small amount of people who really NEEDED a hug? Somebody who was about to commit suicide, has financial problems, needs a push in the right direction. Something as simple as a hug could help give these people the confidence they need to try to work out their problems.

Marine, quite frankly, your being an apathetic asshole. Society will always be flawed, but what's wrong with the people who try to make a change for the better in it? Those people who, say, fix houses for the old and poor or run food drives for those who can't feed themselves? Humans have the most powerful minds on the Earth and debatably in the galaxy. Instead of using it to follow their 'let the weak die out and the strong prosper' mentality, which the world follows by itself, we try to help other people who normally would not make it on their own. Look at Steven Hawkings; if he were any other animal on Earth, he'd be dead within days. Did we follow the survival of the fittest mentality? No, we cared for him and educated him, and look what we got; one of the most intelligent and important figures in modern science.

We do kind things for a desire to make ourselves feel good, this is obvious. But what's wrong with making somebody else feel good in the process? Let's go out on a limb and define 'good feelings' on a 1-10 scale. If helping someone out gave you AND the person you helped a '3' feeling, and, oh, I don't know, let's say, watching a movie also gave you a '3' feeling, which one would you choose? The one that benefits solely you, or the one that acts on our moral impulses to help others (by the way, the assumption here is that both required the same amount of effort, work, etc.)?

Am I an extremist who would do something like that? HELL NO, I'm just not that devoted. But somebody with that desire to help others and the devotion to that cause should be admired, not put down. I'll do little things like help an old lady with her bags or retrieve a ball that rolled into the street that some kids were using. Help someone out, make yourself feel good, make someone else feel good.

Once again, "hurray!", but Hawking was disabled after he was educated, not before. And an extra special "hurray" for stopping a spoil-sport.

To add, I think Marine needs a hug.

[Marine]

Marine, quite frankly, your being an apathetic asshole.

Not all of us can be an endeering, bleeding heart.

What's wrong with the people who try to make a change for the better in it? Those people who, say, fix houses for the old and poor or run food drives for those who can't feed themselves?

If you're going to use resources, use them logically. Too many people jump with their morals instead of insight. Why waste time on an elderly house, that, in case when said people expire, the house will eventually be remodled anyway?

If you're so inclined to help rebuild housings, help rebuild nursing homes and hospitals, where there's a constant traffic of elderly persons to enjoy it.

If you're going to give free food to the poor, give them direction on how to get a decent job. Give them clothes while your at it, maybe a shower and a bar of soap.

who can't feed themselves?

Giving them free food won't solve the problem.

Humans have the most powerful minds on the Earth and debatably in the galaxy

No we don't.

Instead of using it to follow their 'let the weak die out and the strong prosper' mentality, which the world follows by itself, we try to help other people who normally would not make it on their own.

Could you imagine the evolution? Natural Selection would greatly improve overall human health. Humans could develop resistances to birth related difficientcies, diseases, and nuerotoxins. Natural Selection provides a space for those adaptations to take place and continue with further generations. Disabilities could be an after thought.

Look at Steven Hawkings; if he were any other animal on Earth, he'd be dead within days. Did we follow the survival of the fittest mentality? No, we cared for him and educated him, and look what we got; one of the most intelligent and important figures in modern science.

Like all prominent theories and examples, there are exceptions to the rule.

Help someone out, make yourself feel good, make someone else feel good.

And I do that all the time.

[That One Internet Guy]

Gah, micro-quoting is too difficult and time-consuming for me.

1) Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a life-time (I'm being contradictory).
2) Helping people is good.
3) Although there are better places our money can go.
4) A bleeding heart is moping about every little thing wrong in the world. A good person/action is seeing something, doing the right thing (morally), and going on.

[senjuro]

Look at Steven Hawkings; if he were any other animal on Earth, he'd be dead within days.

Stephen Hawking was born as normal as you or I, albeit with a reprotedly elfin appearance. He was intelligent and athletic through his teens until around 17 or 18 when he started manifesting symptoms of ALS. Natural selection wouldn't have kept him alive as long as he has been, but biologically, he would've had plenty of time to fulfill his role as a male.

[Renamon_S3]

I never expected those kind of responses. It pisses me off to no end, but I will not show it in this post, for risk of it being deleted.

To clarify, what we do is for the poor and old, as in, old poor people. Not old people, then some poor guy who is too lazy to get a job.

And its almost always the same story with the people we help. So far, on the 6 houses i've worked at, it has been an 85-101 year old black woman.

In one case, the 101, her daughter also lived with her. And she was around 80 or so.

In all of these cases, these people needed help. And they got it from people who care.

Spending a couple of weeks a year helping these people, and seeing the looks in their eyes when we come to see them, not only to fix their homes, but also to just spend time with them, does make me feel good.

Ghost is correct about the "feel good" part. I feel damn good knowing that we could make some old woman's ending years better. I feel damn good showing her that the youth of today aren't a bunch of heartless thugs, lazy, or just plain uncareing.

Of all the people I have met on any of the work cites, not one of them were helping for their own personal gain. It was all just pure care for the people.

I don't help to make myself feel good, that is just a side effect.

Helping some bum on the street find a job is also a great thing. It just isn't my way of bettering the world.

Oh and just to point out the obvious, a group of teens/young adults can't set up a contract to fix up a hospital. When a hospital needs repairs, it is taken care of by the government.(or at least should be)

What you said is similar to ripin on someone who donates 10 bucks to a charity, just because it seems like a drop in the bucket when compared to $100 or $10000 donations.

We only help those who truely can't help themselves. That doesn't enforce the status of the poor and the old, and it doesn't make them realize through these events that they are obselete. The fact is, all of the people we helped, were abandoned by their families(except for the 101) and are physically and financially unable to help themselves. The only feelings they get from it, is the feeling of relief, and the feeling of compassion.

Helping these people is my $10 donation to the betterment of the world, and don't think you can ever tell me that I am spending my money wrong.

[Disturbed]

I was fortunate to live a pretty noncontraversal (butchered) life so far, though I'm only 19. The one thing that kind of stuck in my mind though is the very last day of school I attended saw a student that I knew get escorted off the school grounds by two police officers. I hope that isnt the future of the high school I grew to love.

[DarkBlue]

Gun said : "Sure I help, I help all the time. Though it's mostly animals I help. People don't seem to want me in their houses so I can't offer any care-giving charity thingies- The sweet old ladies are nice though, it just saddens you to hell when it's they're time- sigh, that's life! Can't live with it, can't live without it!"

I say- Once again, it's US PEOPLE who do these things! The poor PEOPLE, the Middle class PEOPLE- even assholes are people too! I'm starting to understand what that guy in shaman king said- what was his name- Hao- whatever- "Humans are nothing but a blight to this world. They cannot see past their own well beings" -and stuff like that- can't remember it- but it was... well, nice.

[AuroraSonicBoom]

"Mankind is nature.
All manmade things have natural qualities.
Everything in nature flows towards equilibrium.
It's the little vortices in the stream that catches our eyes."

[Renamon_S3]

Your sig is funny.