The way I think about this to myself is “if everyone did this, would it make world a better place?” If the answer is yes then it’s worth doing no matter how small thing it is. Yes, it might not make a difference but at least you did your part and didn’t contribute to making things worse.
Very Kantian of you
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kantian_ethics
This is an interesting piece on how Kantian ethics can be applied to your actions, but there are pitfalls in applying your ethical evaluations to the actions of others
Earlier today I was thinking about a conversation that I had a few weeks ago about Tesla. I mentioned that I would love to have one but I’d never consider buying one while Elon is still with the company. Their response was the normal “eh, I don’t really think about that kind of stuff” and that was that. It was just a polite conversation so we didn’t go into values or beliefs about it, but I’m certain that they were being truthful and didn’t really have any deeper thoughts on it. Most people just simply don’t care.
As for me, I believe voting with your wallet is the strongest thing that any one of us can do, at least while lobbying is still normalized within politics. The billionaires and mega-corps only care about money and they’ll only change if something is affecting their bottom line.
Kind of the opposite, it can be depressing recognising the lack of shits given.
Tesla is the most popular car purchase in Norway for eample and is extrmely popular here in Australia. People still use Reddit, X, iMessage, Facebook erc etc. My neighbour uses Stralink when we have a local 400/80 service available. 90% literally don’t give a shit.
90% literally don’t give a shit.
Exactly this.
90% literally don’t give a shit.
If the 3,5% rule is true, then maybe there’s a chance?
Me every time I face any decision, no matter how small:
I work a job where I help assist disabled people navigate a major international airport.
From TSA to their gates is 1/3rd of a mile. Imagine trying to walk 1/3rd of a mile with a broken leg. Or no legs.
I KNOW my work makes a difference. I’m not enriching some billionaire asshole. I’m transporting the elderly and disabled so they can travel in an airport.
What makes it discouraging is that SOME of these people make it feel like THEY don’t think I’m making a difference for them.
I can’t change the shitty experience you had on Spirit airlines. I had nothing to do with that. I don’t work for any airline, but I assist with many airlines.
They get off the plane, and yell at me because the guy next to them smelled like he hadn’t showered that month.
I mean, that’s kind of your own fault. You chose to ride an airline that charged you $37 for your ticket, still uses boeing aircraft, and hires hobos off the street to be pilots. I cannot stress enough how little wiggle room you have to complain.
That being said, that’s only 10% of my passengers. MOST passengers are very thankful that my job exists. So I KNOW my job matters. I just wish my employer would pay me like it does.
That same 10% that causes an issue and our continuing tolerance for them behaving as they do has led us to today, if you ask me, which you didn’t, so … sorry.
Thank you for being someone else who enjoys helping others!
Like voting. I wonder how the people who sat out the last presidential election in the US are feeling right about now?
After Trump lost the popular vote by about 3 million in 2016 and was still appointed by the Electoral College… probably not that bad
He’d have lost by way more than that if people had voted. The largest “vote” were the none votes.
Correct. A non-vote (or, sadly, a third party vote) is a vote for “the bad one.” (I’m not trying to say that Trump isn’t the bad one in any case, I just mean in general, you can’t complain about who won if you didn’t vote against them. A vote for a third party or a non-vote is always a vote for the worst one.)
I say this as someone who voted third party in 2016. So did my wife. I voted Libertarian, she voted Green. We didn’t dislike Clinton per se, but we thought it was shady how the DNC did Bernie Sanders. If she would have competed cleanly we might have supported her. We don’t dislike her, like I said, but we did not want to vote for her underhanded methods. Of course, that’s a Clinton for you. I’m not a big fan of them… but I now see Clinton would have been a better president than Trump. We just did not know how bad he was in 2016. Still, in the interests of transparency… we may as well have voted for Trump for all the good we did. And that’s something I want to help other third party voters see.
The differences my choices have made are so imperceptible as to be invisible.
I don’t believe you
I also have a hunch that if it’s others helping you, you see a lot more value in their effort, than if the roles were reversed.
Also, even just a quick look at your post history. You’ve put smiles on people’s faces. What will they do with that? It can be a difference of how they treat the next person, the difference in mood to stop for someone who looks like they need help. A renewed hope for the good in humanity. It’s so much, and I’m way too wasted and tired to go into this much further.
Maybe you’ve contributed 81.9% to a person turning to compassion instead of sociopathy with a single action.
Maybe by “so imperceptible as to be invisible” that’s kinda what you meant, and I pissed you off now. Shit happens, friend :)
I hate this Chicken Soup for the Soul bullshit but I’m glad you took the time to reply.
For good and ill.
I’m pretty sure my actions just annoy people, but not in a good way like being annoying to someone with power…
