I have come to the conclusion that I may believe too much in the good of the world

[goldaline, my dear]

I have been told many times in my life that I am "too trusting of people" and that I am living in a "fantasy world" where everything is "clouds and rainbows and marshmallow bunnies". Many of these things have been said to me because of how I deal with certain situations. I give myself wholly to whoever needs me, I strongly believe in charity, and I have been known to say "I'm glad it was me and not someone else" when bad things happen to me. I believe everyone deserves a second chance no matter what their offense was. I am nice to pretty much anyone I meet, even if they have wronged me. I have had 2 ipods stolen from me because I left my car unlocked believing that no one would break into it. I once gave a someone who I believe to be a prostitute a ride across town, and put my life in danger because I waited with her until her "boyfriend" came and picked her up because it was dark. (He was belligerent and angry, and I waited until she seemed ok before I left) People constantly hurt me emotionally when I will (and have) given them the shirt off my back. I have a hard time saying no to anything. I don't want to disappoint anyone. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I believe there is good in everyone.

The reason this was brought to my attention is because today, I was reading our local newspaper, and on the front page, I noticed that five men had been arrested in a prostitution sting. I immediately felt bad for their kids and wives, and then for them. In my mind, I feel like they were arrested and will pay the price for their crime, but they do not deserve public humiliation. My mom tells me I'm too caring about other people.

Sometimes, this empathy and sympathy with others even puts my self in danger. Is that taking my belief that the world is "good" too far?

[ArmsMerchant]

Some wisdom from the Arabs--"Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel."

With all due respect, leaving valuables in an unlocked car is just plain stupid.

I have a small retail business. I strive to treat my customers right--stand behind my product, have fair prices and so on. But I watch them like hawks--especially young white people--because they will steal from me if I don't. This is a hard fact--it has nothing to do with my opinion of "the world" or people in general.

There are no bad people--just people who see the world differently from me.

[goldaline, my dear]

With all due respect, leaving valuables in an unlocked car is just plain stupid.

It was only for a moment, I didn't intend on being gone long. I usually put my ipods/cash up before getting out of the car, and I don't know why I didn't lock my car that time when I knew I hadn't put those things away. I was in the habit of leaving my car unlocked and my windows down. Even still, about the money/ipods, I feel like maybe the person who took them needed them more than I did. Maybe some soul pawned them and used the cash to feed his starving children, I don't know. I wasn't too terribly bothered by the whole ordeal. My treasure isn't in material things.

[goldaline, my dear]

no one has an opinion for me?

[Death_Merchant]

Here's one. Wise up. The world is not sunshine and rainbows. Unless you live out in the country, people are going to steal your shit, if you leave it in your car. They probably sold it to buy drugs. Often drugs are used in arms trading. So by letting some motherfucker steal your ipod, drugs were bought, which were traded for guns, and people died because your ipod was stolen. The world is that fucked up, trust me. The 5 UN security council countries are the worlds largest arms dealers. Canada, so peaceful and all, is the 6th largest arms manufacturer. Seriously, I've helped make loading mechanisms for some 1000 M20 machine guns. Most of our clothing is produced by third world workers who basically are slaves just so they can eat. The world is fucked up. So wise up and don't let people take advantage of you, cause one day you're going to get burned badly.

[Young Meth]

no one has an opinion for me?

Sorry dude but most people already know that most people are out for themselves, which means alot of the time that sucks for you if you trust them.

It's okay to trust people, but as they say, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. It also helps not to trust people with major shit. Most people will fuck you over if something better comes along or whatever.

[LiquidIce]

What makes you tick, OP? What causes these emotions that you must help out somebody?

Maybe mind your own business? It's your life.

[Syphilis]

You're right.

I'm not a fan of trusting people.

[Resign the King]

Well you should feel sorry for those dudes who got busted in a prostitution sting. Prostitution should be legal and it's an injustice to arrest people for buying or selling consensual sex.

It's great to be nice and polite to everyone. But be careful when you help people, mostly people will do fine without you. Say a homeless person for instance, he makes his own choices and has gotten himself into this mess. Don't go out of your way to help sketchy people, they may not share the same humanity you have. They may be in rough situations but these situations have made them tough, and unless they are in immediate medical danger be really careful in reaching out to help them. It's not worth putting your own life at risk just to make life more comfortable for somebody who could potentially be dangerous.

Don't worry about pleasing people who are rude to you and don't respect you.

[Nero]

Marshmallow bunnies? What the fuck?

How is that even possible?

In all seriousness, as much as I think this thread was just a brag about your altruism, you should just learn to make estimated guesses about people and situations. Trusting everyone with everything doesn't make you a good person, it just makes you a dumbass.

[ArmsMerchant]

It was only for a moment, I didn't intend on . . . . .. I wasn't too terribly bothered by the whole ordeal. My treasure isn't in material things.

1) No need to get defensive. Eevryone does stupid things at times.

2) You seem to be making a liar out of yourself. If the experience did not "bother" you, why do you call it an "ordeal"?

[reallystupidstuff]

You believe there is good in the world???


You are deluded

[goldaline, my dear]

1) No need to get defensive. Eevryone does stupid things at times.

2) You seem to be making a liar out of yourself. If the experience did not "bother" you, why do you call it an "ordeal"?

I call it an ordeal to encompass the situation, not to explain how it effected me. Bad diction on my part.

[DJ Meaty Cheeks]

Wow. Life is going to beat you to the ground and rape you hard. Be sure to post pics.

[JoePedo]

no one has an opinion for me?

Ah, what the hell : you're doing quite well. And...

I have come to the conclusion that I may believe too much in the good of the world

^ that's pretty much impossible. It's far more likely that you believe too unrealistically in the good of the world, rather than too much in the good of the world. These are two entirely seperate things. Everything Death_Merchant noted above is pretty much true. Hiding one's head in the sand would be, well, unrealistic. Conversely, however, the fact that the world's most powerful "servants of peace and light" are, in fact, a highly corrupt cartel which mostly engages in profiteering off death doesn't change the fact that the little old lady down the street is rather kind to stray cats.

Faith in goodness doesn't mean denying the fact that there are people out there who hurt others. At the same time, knowing that there are some very corrupt and massive parties out there who hurt others doesn't mean denying that the many numbers of small, good-hearted people doing their little bit. With seven billion people, it's not an either-or, it's an all-of-the-above.

So really...

Even still, about the money/ipods, I feel like maybe the person who took them needed them more than I did. Maybe some soul pawned them and used the cash to feed his starving children, I don't know. I wasn't too terribly bothered by the whole ordeal. My treasure isn't in material things.

I'd say that's a good head start. In fact? I'll go farther - you shouldn't leave your car unlocked, and that's a very good way to react when these things happen to you, car unlocked or no.

To be more specific... you shouldn't leave your car unlocked because, while it creates weakness, it does not concurrently create use. If leaving your car unlocked saved several million starving children in africa, I'd say that weakness versus benefit is down to personal choice. But... it doesn't. There is no reason not to honor the wisdom of the passive portion of the ethos of evil (basically, "don't be weak") where it does not gain anything to the proactive implementation of compassion to do so. Nothing lost, everything gained...

Conversely, your reaction was the best reaction because, well... same reason. Nothing lost, everything gained. Having a total collapse any time something is stolen from you doesn't get it back (i.e., no positive gains from the alternative), and you're probably happier contemplating how your loss makes the world a better and happier place for you to live in than getting upset (i.e., avoids losses).

Now, just to be an ass...

The reason this was brought to my attention is because today, I was reading our local newspaper, and on the front page, I noticed that five men had been arrested in a prostitution sting. I immediately felt bad for their kids and wives, and then for them.

Mkay.

In my mind, I feel like they were arrested and will pay the price for their crime

Can you really, concretely establish where a little prostitution harms people in the same way that, say, serial murder does - or are you just thinking ill of others who have harmed no one?

If you believe in hurting people who gave you some excuse to "deserve" it - aren't you really just blaming your victim for the fact that you like hurting people?

I envy your natural gifts, but there's also a place for strenuous rigor. ;)

My mom tells me I'm too caring about other people.

Congratulations. You know you live in a world in which you will be criticized and attacked if you have empathy. Don't be surprised if the people around you also act like they grew up in a world where they would be criticized and attacked if they cared about others. ;)

Suffice to say, though... the positive and negative ethics of evil, herein defined as "the worship of strength as a moral compass" for this paragraph, are the use of strength to one's advantage, and not being weak, respectively. The positive and negative ethics of good, defined as "the wish to help others," are compassionate outreach, and not hurting others, respectively.

Most people skip the positive aspects of good - to the point where you seriously cannot find resources or information - pay lip service to the negative aspects, but ignore them, skip the positive aspects of evil, and use their strength to hurt anyone who violates the negative aspects rather than thinking about whether doing so even pertains to their own advantage.

Yay.

There are exceptions. The satanist clique tends to do a lot better on passive good, simply by saving their strength to where it would advantage them rather than squandering it in foolishness. Noble stuff. The naieve social anarchists tend to hippie around paying attention to all the negative aspects, and occasionally spontaneously manifest the positive presence of good, albeit randomly and at times and in ways unconstrained by society. 'n so on.

But... somewhere, out there, some little old lady is feeding a stray cat. The fact that the US is operating the world's largest sex trafficking network cannot change whether said old lady kindly feeds 'her' cats, and therefore, acknowledgment of evil is in no way saying that belief in good is "too much."

~sigh~ Have fun.

[dephdiddy]

I have been told many times in my life that I am "too trusting of people" and that I am living in a "fantasy world" where everything is "clouds and rainbows and marshmallow bunnies". Many of these things have been said to me because of how I deal with certain situations. I give myself wholly to whoever needs me, I strongly believe in charity, and I have been known to say "I'm glad it was me and not someone else" when bad things happen to me. I believe everyone deserves a second chance no matter what their offense was. I am nice to pretty much anyone I meet, even if they have wronged me. I have had 2 ipods stolen from me because I left my car unlocked believing that no one would break into it. I once gave a someone who I believe to be a prostitute a ride across town, and put my life in danger because I waited with her until her "boyfriend" came and picked her up because it was dark. (He was belligerent and angry, and I waited until she seemed ok before I left) People constantly hurt me emotionally when I will (and have) given them the shirt off my back. I have a hard time saying no to anything. I don't want to disappoint anyone. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I believe there is good in everyone.

The reason this was brought to my attention is because today, I was reading our local newspaper, and on the front page, I noticed that five men had been arrested in a prostitution sting. I immediately felt bad for their kids and wives, and then for them. In my mind, I feel like they were arrested and will pay the price for their crime, but they do not deserve public humiliation. My mom tells me I'm too caring about other people.

Sometimes, this empathy and sympathy with others even puts my self in danger. Is that taking my belief that the world is "good" too far?


unless your a late feb pisces i dont beleive you.