Philosophy Now Forum

it is not enough to understand the world,
one must find the will to live within the world,
to find a way of life that allows one to experience the world....
and what is your way of life?
Hence the point of philosophy!

to discover the "way of life" we need to have,
we need to recognize the truth/realities of existence....
that there are limiting factors in our lives that we must
contend with....
forces like gravity and evolution and physics....
we cannot overcome forces like gravity or physics...
they are too ingrained in the universe...
think of those forces as bumpers on a bowling lane...
which forces the bowling ball to go one way and one way only...
and think of the forces of physics, with its laws of thermodynamics...
with its conservation of energy...that energy cannot be destroyed,
only converted.. the formula E=Mc2 is basically an formula
about the conservation of energy.. mass is equal to energy....
or the laws of entropy... which is basically how the universe
flows or works... from order to disorder....from our birth to our death,
is one example of this principle of going from order to disorder...
and we cannot, cannot ever escape the law of entropy...
it is as fixed a boundary as the laws of thermodynamics....
three: that we cannot escape the nature of existence..
that we must be born, we grow old, we suffer from illness,
and we finally die, old age is simple death from entropy..
our lot is to suffer, but we can know, accept that suffering is
our lot and move on from that....
part of the equation of "our way of life" is simple acceptance
of the fact that we are going to suffer in our lives... accept
and move on... fight this and you may as well be fighting gravity or
the forces of thermodynamics.... there is no win in this fight....

"a way of life" must encompass all of these aspects of existence,
the knowledge that we limited by forces beyond our control,
these "bumpers" that force us to go in one direction and one
direction only...

a "way of life" is a commitment to living life by certain principles,
such as justice, love, peace, hope charity, as positive values/principles.
we can also live by negative values/principles, war, violence, hatred,
greed, anger, lust to name a few negative values/principles...

so I ask you, what values/principles do you live your life by?
But Kropotkin, I don't know what you are talking about?
Instead of the debate about culture war issues, a trans kid
in Ohio, how about a debate which values/principles
are worth living for, worth dying for, if need be.....
instead of allowing the outside world to impact you, how about
you think about the values/principles you hold that impact the world?

Ok, Kropotkin, men dancing in women's clothes is impacting my world,
but that isn't the point, what values/principles of yours that are being
impacted by men dancing in women's clothing?
is that value/principle that is being violated by men dancing in women's
clothes really a value worth living your life over, or even dying over?
the core issues, the forces in our lives, aren't impacted by men's
dancing in women's clothing... gravity or evolution or entropy
isn't impacted by men dancing in any way or dress....

the point of having core values/principles is to have some model
or guide to being...to existence...
take away the pretend reason for banning drag shows, the children,
and ask yourself, is there another reason to ban drag shows?
what core value/principle is being violated by drag shows?
but Kropotkin, its wrong! And that is based on what core value/principle?

I work with someone at my store, he is challenged, to be nice,
about it, but he never thinks about what he is doing, he is always looking
at others, who did what.. he is constantly complaining about
someone that didn't do their job, but he is never thinking about
what he is supposed to do.. whether he is supposed to do
carts or bag or do go-backs, he doesn't think about that...
he tells me that Dan didn't do go-backs or that Blanca isn't doing what
she is supposed to do... instead of focusing on what he is supposed to do...
never that...so don't be like Mike, focus on everything but on what
you are supposed to be doing...so for me, this fight over drag shows..
is simply people focusing on others instead of focusing on what they
are supposed to do or an engagement with their own "way of life"...
it is easy to focus on others, to allow them to distract yourself from
thinking about what the values/principles you should have or your
"way of life" in terms of those values/principles....

it is not enough to understand existence, but to formulate
what values/principles are the guiding force of your actions
and beliefs...what values/principles anchors your "way of life"?

Kropotkin

ok, so what were to say if I ask,
what values/principles do you live your life by?
and your answer would be?

Now some might say, I live a "Christian life.''
Ok, great, now which values are specifically
"Christian?" now one might say, I believe in Jesus,
and thus I will go to heaven.... but I didn't ask that,
I asked, what specific values do you believe in?
and for the most part, most people are unable to answer that
question... they have no idea what specific values/principles
are "Christian"... or they might answer, I hate trans people because
I believe in the bible... but that isn't a value or principle either...
that is an action....and upon what specific value do you hate trans people?
if god says its wrong, I don't have to know what value/principle I need
to hate trans people....now I have read the bible from end to end,
a dozen times and I can state for the record, there is not one specific
instance of a trans person or any action taken by god for or against a
trans person in the entire bible....or even a passage about cross
dressing in the bible....not one..... and how do you square this circle?

and what I am aiming at/for is the point that for the vast majority
of people, they don't have any sort of set values/principle they live
their life by.....their lives are, as I have called it, 'AD HOC" of
the moment, their believes are simple beliefs of the moment,
of that particular instance...that are only brought about
because of the need to have a temporary value/principle to operate
on....or ''ad hoc" temporary values/principle used to get by in
the moment...nothing permanent or lasting...we use and hold
temporary value/principles that last the moment and then once
the moment is gone, those values/principles are gone...
and that is what most people hold to, "ad hoc" values
that are temporary in nature....

thus we have no values or principles upon which to base our
lives upon...because if the situation defines the values/principles,
as is the case for most people, then we have situational values/principles....
the situation determines the values/principles....and that is
reflected on the right wing "principle" of being "pro-life"
they are pro-life in some situations, but very much pro-death in
other situations... if you want to ban abortions, to be pro-life,
then you must equally want to ban capital punishment...
to be truly "pro-life" but the fact is most people's beliefs
are not only widely different, but quite contradict other
beliefs...being anti-abortion... pro-life and yet, still
support the death penalty... pro-death.....
this is what happens if one doesn't have a set of
values/principles to follow... to follow justice for
example or peace or freedom, as a value worth having
for a ''way of life" a value worth living for, a value worth dying for.....
"ad hoc", situational values are not worth living for,
and certainly not worth dying for...example of "ad hoc" values/principles
not worth living for or dying for.. nationalism, religion, Buddhism,
racism, sexism, homophobia, asceticism, conservatism, egoism,
hedonism, or capitalism.... this list is not by any means, comprehensive
or complete...

so what values/principles are worth living for, worth dying for....
the positive values of love, peace, hope, charity, freedom, justice,
truth, awareness/woke, care, curiosity, seeking.... to name just
a few values/principles worth living for/dying for.....

for these values/principles are values that lead us to someplace,
someplace where we can expand ourselves, whereas values/principles
that are negative, like hate, anger, lust, greed, violence, decrease us,
make us smaller...practicing hate can only lead to hate, whereas practicing
love can lead us to something more, for love is the step into the future,
we can love and gain the world by it, whereas by hate, we can only receive
hate.. and by seeking money, you can only receive money, you can't
get peace or happiness or love......for love is a value/principle worth
living for, worth dying for....and hate is not a value/principle worth
living for, worth dying for..... hate is an empty value
because it can't lead you anywhere else beside that value of hate.....
hate divides us and love unites us....it is not enough to love, but
one has to make love or a similar value worth living for, worth
dying for.... a value worth having a lifelong engagement with....
a value worth living one's life by....

Kropotkin

"What are ya Mona? What kinda person are ya? You do absolutely nuthin all day. You better mend yer ways Mona or else, when I'm gone, you'll end up on the streets."

"It isn't enough is it darling?"