Religions > Atheism > Whether atheist or theist, it is a simple matter that we cannot saveothers if we have 'not prepared' to save them.
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"V" |
| Date: |
26 Dec 2007 05:27:17 PM |
| Object: |
Whether atheist or theist, it is a simple matter that we cannot saveothers if we have 'not prepared' to save them. |
I think it was Dr Yang that brought up the subject of being prepared?
Whether atheist or theist, it is a simple matter that we cannot save
others if we have 'not prepared' to save them.
For myself I can barley afford to prepare for the 3 of us. Nor do I
gave unlimited space for preparedness supplies for others even if I
had more money.
I am lucky that I have a 45' x 75' piece of ground to grow food
on...but in realty that is not much land for the 3 of us, so how could
it be stretched even further? (I am lucky in the sense that when in
L.A. I had much less land.)
It is a hard fact of life that the Survivor must be Selfish in order
to SURVIVE.
Just be authentic with what you do and you can be at peace with
whatever the outcome is.
For one to be Successful at Survival understand the importance of all
the 'S' words and how one's Success at Survival balances on the
interaction of all the 'S' words and by practical application of a
Successful Survival philosophy.
And while we do need a modicum of Smarts to be a Successful
Survivor...well, let me paraphrase the title of an old post I wrote so
it is apropos here:
'Academic Smarts are not the Same as Survival Smarts.'
The realities of being a Successful Survivor are this.
To be Successful at Survival requires one to be Selfish as opposed to
Selfless.
It is impossible to be a Saint and Save everyone in the world that has
not done their preparedness footwork to Supply their emergency needs.
Just Sharing Some of your emergency Supplies with one other person may
put your life in jeopardy.
So now there are two deaths as opposed to one.
But only you can judge how many lives your Supplies can maintain and
your desires to be philanthropic can Support.
Don't ever let another person tell you otherwise. The one's doing the
browbeating are usually the one's that have done little in the area of
preparedness.
But the concept of Sharing goes beyond just Sharing Supplies. It also
encompasses Sharing our time and our energies - for Survival can be a
full time job just to keep ourselves and our loved one's alive.
We are all human and have limitations, so we can only Spread ourselves
so thin before we Start to develop cracks in our health - whether it
be mental health or physical health.
The Successful Survivor must accept that the Self must come first. And
while it is unfortunate that the foundation of that Success is based
in Selfishness and not in philanthropy...that is what the reality of
it is.
If we lived in a perfect dream world, then we could wipe out all these
unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances that would cause one to have
to prepare for possible disasters, upheavals and emergencies.
But the cold hard facts are that the business of Survival is not
always nice and pretty - but it is always rooted in putting the
preservation of one's own life first.
This book gives goes into detail with this topic of 'Survival
Philosophy'.
I highly recommended it...get it from your library
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Survival-revolution-Hurricains/dp/1569801207/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196866051&sr=1-1
Mental preparedness and physical fitness are the foundations of all
our Survival quests For the mind guides the body, but an unfit body is
not able to respond to the minds guidance.
We become mentally prepared when we are able to use the 7 Skills to
defeat the 7 Enemies of Life
The 7 Skills:
Fire Starting
Water Procurement
Shelter Building
Foraging for food
Signaling
First Aid
Self Defense
7 Enemies of Life:
Fear and anxiety
Cold and Heat
Thirst
Hunger
Boredom and Loneliness
Fatigue
Pain and Injury
So in essence, we develop Self confidence by mastering the Skills
needed to overcome any Situation that arises to threaten our life.
Let me delve into the concept of Selfish versus Selfless actions a
little more. I don't wish to promote the wrong view that being Selfish
is the key to being happy and at peace.
As the Taoists tell us...fleas come with the dog. And if one desires
to be a Survivalist, then one must accept some fleas to come with the
job.
Most humans have a natural desire to help those in need. It is part of
their makeup. But we must accept that we have built our world on
unsustainable means - a means built artificially on fossil fuel.
And when we live out of balance with natures intended means there is a
price to pay to come back in balance with nature. And the price
usually extracts pain from us in the adjustment process.
The world is in a death Spiral. It is just how we have built our world
over the years. We can't blame any one person for this fact - we are
all to blame. It would be one thing if we all reverted back to rural
living, burning trees for fuel and housing and living within our
comfortable means allotted to us by nature, as our ancestors did back
in the day.
But seven billion people can't burn the trees!
It has been estimated that for the earth to Sustainably Support its
population without fossil fuels a 90% dieoff must occur. I don't know
if that figure is right, but I do know humans could not live as they
do unless it was funded by artificial means via fossil fuels. Our life
on earth has been 'pumped up' via steroids and growth hormones a.k.a.
crude oil.
So if this dieoff happens, of course there will be great amounts of
pain in the world. But it is natures intended balancing act. It also
reminds us that nature does not bow to humans - it is humans that
always bow to nature.
Will this dieoff occur? I don't know. Some genius may come to the
rescue and find a way to burn water and we can keep consuming
carefree. but there is still the question of petrochemical use.
Irrespective of burning crude, petroleum is an irreplaceable component
of many other products we consume.
http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%20from%20Petroleum.htm
Animals live within their intended balance with nature and it is only
man that destroys his environment and has to pay the price through
pain and Suffering from working against nature.
This is why we humans need moral guidance or a moral conscience since
they have a 'free will' of Sorts. If we did not have such a feature we
would soon Self-destruct.
Actually it is like this.
We are free to do what we want -- but are not free to want what we
want.
All our actions have consequences, and many of our actions produce
consequences that end up destroying peace. (both ours and other's
peace).
This is what separates us from the animals that run Solely on
instinct.
Humans run by instinct as well as moral guidance. And what makes us a
human is why we even have to discuss this question of helping others
in the first place.
This question of Sustainability is the key to helping one make the
tough decision as to whether to help another out with their provisions
or energies.
If whatever you offer is available to you in unlimited amounts or
amounts that would be hard to deplete, then one may not have to be so
concerned with Sharing such bounty. (Although Sharing anything with
desperate people also has the potential for Security problems
irrespective of the question of Sustainability.)
But whatever way you decide to proceed...be authentic and you can be
at peace with your actions.
The 'authenticity acid test' would ask the question; 'Would you do the
same thing again knowing the outcome of your actions?'
If you would not do it again, then your actions are not authentic,
since you are not at peace with the outcome.
Authenticity is the key to being at peace. For even if you or your
loved ones must die early to gratify one's philanthropic desires, then
one can be at peace with that outcome if one authentically puts
philanthropy above personal Survival.
This all goes back to my quote on Thoreau and the subject of
pride...where do we put our pride?
Do we put our pride in helping others first and ourselves and our
family Second?
Or do we put our pride in Self preservation?
....In the end you only have to please yourself with your
actions...just be authentic with what you do and you can be at peace
with whatever the outcome is.
Take care,
V (Male)
Agnostic Freethinker
Practical Philosopher
Futurist
Urban Homesteader
AA#2
.
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