Jan 22, 2022·edited Jan 22, 2022Liked by Chris J. Karr, David Thornton, Jay Berman
Always great to hear your perspectives Jay. Regarding the “right to be selfish”, I’ve mostly had a live and let live attitude with those people, often responding with “fine, you suit yourself and go your way. But I don’t agree”. What I noticed with many of these people, is that they not only want their right to be selfish(which I will frown upon, but ultimately move on and ignore them), but to force others to validate their selfishness. And they tend to go ballistic when others either express disagreement with their behavior or advocate for things that they oppose. One big example is some on the political right wanting to force the private sector in prohibiting them from setting their own rules on vaccinations. It’s not merely enough that they don’t want to get vaccinated, and me respecting their decision(while disagreeing with it). It’s about forcing me to accept the moral premise of their behavior, even if it means using the coercive power of the state to do so(such as prohibiting businesses from mandating vax). Selfishness, if not tamed and tempered, almost always leads to attempts to force and compel others.
I have seen similar behavior among what I call "Rabid Libertarians". It is ironic that those among us that are so ardent in preserving individual liberties are so ready to want to restrict those that disagree with them. We have seen here the example you offered concerning using state power to prohibit business from requiring masks or vaccinations. Our governor will have no part in this and even characterized it as a communist mentality.
Always great to hear your perspectives Jay. Regarding the “right to be selfish”, I’ve mostly had a live and let live attitude with those people, often responding with “fine, you suit yourself and go your way. But I don’t agree”. What I noticed with many of these people, is that they not only want their right to be selfish(which I will frown upon, but ultimately move on and ignore them), but to force others to validate their selfishness. And they tend to go ballistic when others either express disagreement with their behavior or advocate for things that they oppose. One big example is some on the political right wanting to force the private sector in prohibiting them from setting their own rules on vaccinations. It’s not merely enough that they don’t want to get vaccinated, and me respecting their decision(while disagreeing with it). It’s about forcing me to accept the moral premise of their behavior, even if it means using the coercive power of the state to do so(such as prohibiting businesses from mandating vax). Selfishness, if not tamed and tempered, almost always leads to attempts to force and compel others.
I have seen similar behavior among what I call "Rabid Libertarians". It is ironic that those among us that are so ardent in preserving individual liberties are so ready to want to restrict those that disagree with them. We have seen here the example you offered concerning using state power to prohibit business from requiring masks or vaccinations. Our governor will have no part in this and even characterized it as a communist mentality.