Fade the Butcher
01-11-2006, 01:39 PM
:: But even this "nothing" that someone has accomplished, is a lot better to take pride in than something that he didn't even do. Like, being born of a certain race - I mean, it's just stupid to think that you have any worth just because of your race. Your actions count for something, your race doesn't.
We should take pride in our own accomplishments and actions, right? This is ridiculous. The individual accomplishes practically nothing on his own. His own thoughts are rarely even his. Isolate a man in the wilderness of Siberia without any previous human contact and you reduce him to a savage. He cannot even reproduce himself. We could consider him lucky if he managed to survive.
We make progress by interacting with others and by participating in traditions and practices established by our ancestors; that we did not create as 'individuals'. We don't know the names of many of the architects who built the Gothic cathedrals of Western Europe. There is a reason for this. That was a sustained effort that took the work of many generations. To possess such a cathedral was a source of pride for each little community and the construction of them was a collective goal and accomplishment. Each individual helped contribute in his own way: working in the stone quarries, donating money, walking up off the street to assist in on site construction, cooking meals for the workers, making stained glass and so on.
Such awesome and beautiful structures exist today because medieval Europeans thought more about enriching their communities than wrapping themselves up in unwarranted individual arrogance and narcissism. The Gothic cathedrals were meant to be held in reverence by future generations. Your community wasn't something you chose. It was something you were born into. It was a project all generations (past, present, and future) participated in and contributed to.
Don't take pride in who you are. Take pride in what you 'choose' to do. This is the ethos of the Walmart shopper and the fast food menu; the ideology of the consumer. I would like to believe we are more than that.
We should take pride in our own accomplishments and actions, right? This is ridiculous. The individual accomplishes practically nothing on his own. His own thoughts are rarely even his. Isolate a man in the wilderness of Siberia without any previous human contact and you reduce him to a savage. He cannot even reproduce himself. We could consider him lucky if he managed to survive.
We make progress by interacting with others and by participating in traditions and practices established by our ancestors; that we did not create as 'individuals'. We don't know the names of many of the architects who built the Gothic cathedrals of Western Europe. There is a reason for this. That was a sustained effort that took the work of many generations. To possess such a cathedral was a source of pride for each little community and the construction of them was a collective goal and accomplishment. Each individual helped contribute in his own way: working in the stone quarries, donating money, walking up off the street to assist in on site construction, cooking meals for the workers, making stained glass and so on.
Such awesome and beautiful structures exist today because medieval Europeans thought more about enriching their communities than wrapping themselves up in unwarranted individual arrogance and narcissism. The Gothic cathedrals were meant to be held in reverence by future generations. Your community wasn't something you chose. It was something you were born into. It was a project all generations (past, present, and future) participated in and contributed to.
Don't take pride in who you are. Take pride in what you 'choose' to do. This is the ethos of the Walmart shopper and the fast food menu; the ideology of the consumer. I would like to believe we are more than that.