Of Solitariness And Isolation

King Midas
Originally uploaded by Nancy Flamingo

(Click title above.)

Of Selflessness, Selfishness, and Silliness:

It is not good that the man should be alone ….” Genesis 2:15.

COMPARE: http://www.altruists.org/about/altruism/ :

"The most effective counter to the spread of altruism is the modern money system, since it is responsible for an unnatural transactional mentality. The inherent conflict in conventional money establishes zero-sum (competitive) relationships between people and organizations - so that those who help others necessarily disadvantage themselves."

COMMENT: Well, that is just silly!

WITH: http://atlassociety.org/cth-31-1351-About_Objectivism.aspx : "Objectivism celebrates the power of man's mind, defending reason and science against every form of irrationalism. It provides an intellectual foundation for objective standards of truth and value."

COMMENT: Well, that also is just silly!

PERSONAL COMMENTS:
ALONENESS: Each perspective or personhood, although "locked" within its own "physical" holography, grows beyond spiritual isolation only through empathy derived of experiencing and appreciating interactions with other perspectives.

HERENESS: A "placeholding of hereness" for availing separate definition of any mortal perspective of "I-ness" would not subsist, absent empathetic appreciation of other "placeholdings of perspectives."

RISK: I can hardly explore the power and reach of my own mind without putting myself to risk. Indeed, in an opportunity-cost world for consuming and recycling carbon based lifeforms, what worthwhile opportunity can be won, without substantial risk of self or sacrifice?

OBJECTIVITY: How, then, may I objectively know, in advance, whether any specific instance for seeking after only my personal advancement (by cooperating, competing, or interacting with others) may lead to physical risks which, had I foresight as hindsight, may or may not show to have been worthwhile?

FORETELLING: Absent a crystal ball, how should I know whether any chosen course, regardless of selfish or selfless intention, will in fact pan out as intended?

OBJECTIVISM: In other words, how can I objectively practice "Objectivism?"

ISOLATION: Insofar as one could hardly be human in isolation, then, without isolating oneself, how could one be entirely selfish (or objectivist)?

ENLIGHTENMENT:
"I" should be enlightened to appreciate that my existence (or existential effect) extends well beyond any imagined, frozen-in-time "physical" limits of my skin

This is because "I" encompass my changing experiences, perspectives, interests, and empathies.

It is not "objective" to pretend capacity to act either in pure selfishness or in pure selflessness.

Rather, I should aspire that both my selfishness and my selflessness be "enlightened."

That is, "enlightened altruism" is not unlike "enlightened selfishness."

In other words, enlightened intuition leads "subjective I-ness" in appreciating inability in EACH of us to avoid empathizing in at least some extent with connectedness of ALL of us.

For sense of moral purpose, our national motto is E Pluribus Unum --- out of many, one (or, from respect for one are derived many). For scientific purposes, an empiricist will proceed as if individual parts are amenable of being clearly distinguished within wholes. For political, social, and moral purposes, such unambiguous distinctions cannot very well be maintained irrespective of contextual development. To believe otherwise is simply to fail to apprehend our national motto. That is, conserving national purposefulness necessitates changing particular empathies in respect of holistically evolving traditions, beyond brute logic and empiricism ("unite or die").

Except as concepts for discussion, "pure selflessness" and "pure selfishness" simply do not exist.

"Objectivism," as philosophy, absent investment of empathy and intuition, is much ado about ridiculous pretense, supporting calculations only in respect of trivial wordplay, leading only to smoke and mirrors in our real world, subject to collapse at pinprick by merest insight.

*****
ABOUT SELF SACRIFICE AND LIBERTY:
From John Stuart Mill, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill :

"But war, in a good cause, is not the greatest evil which a nation can suffer. War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing is worth a war, is worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice – a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice – is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever-renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other."

*****
Freedom is not free:

Troops did not mean to sacrifice for ingrates:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdPE_DpDBP4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNYujDycXIU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8bIuN6Vbh0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPU4p7UQOtU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIPBtP02yKc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz5Eoa9kr3E

WWII site photos --- then and now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm60ZIVnXZw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX2VTr-r2sc

******
Free Mind:
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita :

… one's life on earth must be lived in accordance with greater laws and truths, one must embrace one's temporal duties whilst remaining mindful of a more timeless reality, acting for the sake of action without consideration for the results thereof. Such a life would naturally lead towards stability, happiness and ultimately, enlightenment.

….

According to the Bhagavad Gita, the goal of life is to free the mind and intellect from their complexities and to focus them on the glory of the Self by dedicating one's actions to the divine.

....

“FASCISM” — ABOUT ISOLATION, INDIVIDUALISM, “BORG,” HERD-MIND, AND COLLECTIVISM:

See http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/opinion/12brooks.html?th&emc=th.
Some folks seem wired to want checks and balances for protecting individual freedom and privacy, while others seem wired to want collectivism and organized central control with clear lines of authority.

Individualists tend towards skills for jolting paradigms, by thinking creatively (outside the contextual box), while collectivists tend towards skills for harnessing group oriented creativity in respect of contexts. When they try to play nice together, each may see the other as “fascist.”