"Self"-Dependent World

We live in a self-dependent world. This meaning, everything we do, whether it be our actions, reactions, inclinations, desires, goals, words, ect..., is based off of selfishness. Why is that?

Have you ever talked to a man who said that if someone else punched him in the face, he would not hit them back? If so you are blessed. I myself pride my understandings on compassion that I would not. But that does not mean I am excluded from this "self-indulged" way of being. But there is a difference in realizing this truth and striving for it, and not giving a "shit" about it. (Which, come to think of it, is also pretty selfish.)

So many wrongs in this world are given birth to by selfishness (if not, kept alive by). Objectivity, treating people as a means for your own.... This is just one of many. Using people for your own selfish gain. This streches everywhere from playing the "friend" dispossition in order to simplify your life (such as car rides, access to necessary substances or tools, or even just taking advantage of someones generosity), to acting on lust in order to saticefy a "natural" inclination to express ones sexuality and desires (such as checking someone out, using objective terms to discribe someone soley focussed on their looks and/or body, or even engaging in shallow activity just for a sense of animal release). We use people all the time. We use our freinds to get what we want, we use our classmate to provide us with necessary musts in education, we men use woman as eye-candy to serve our animal inclinations and selfish cheap sexual gratifications, you women use men as objects as well to serve that same purpose, we use manipulation in order to obtain money or abuse someones kindness for our own selfish desires..... the list of objectivity goes on and on. The more its delved into, the sader it becomes.

Emotions and dispossitions can be a form of selfishness. Our goals and set acheivements we place in our days and lives are soley focussed on. We go throughout our days with little to no regard of other people. We are only set and focussed on what we have to do in order to get what we want. Our personal emotions are self-based. When we go through something, all that matters is what we are going through, no one else. We are so self involved with our troubles and how we feel that we dont even realize that the person you pass while walking or the person you sit next to in class is going through something ten times worse and the hurt is unbearable (when we, as other people, can do something to help that person). But all that matters is ourselves so no one is going to recieve any help or compassion from you, and you wont recieve any compassion or help from anyone else.

Pride is the root of selfishness (as well as being the root of many other destructive things). We are all naturally inclined to act and react on our pride. What people often fail to realize is that we are defined by our obtained strengths that oppose our natural inclinations. Men often pride themselves on the mentioning of a "definition" of a man (being of ego, pride, physical strength, a "dont F with' attitude). I am definately not excluded from this. But its become a sad thing to hear when someone says "Yeah, this dude picked a fight with me and I totally nailed him" or "Dude! this waiter was such a tool! we went outside and egged his car. Hell yea!". Is there anything more sad than that? Watching people express their failer in resisting the giving into said inclination because of pride, revenge or shallow laughs? There is no visible sight to mans greatest trait, compassion. No one takes into consideration the hurt of others. Hurt is a powerful thing. The physical hurt is not what is most deadly. The deadliest hurt lays in the heart, even though that hurt can be powerfully sparked by physical hurt as well. No one deserves to be hurt, even if that person is the one hurting. Can anyone honestly say that two getting hurt is better than one? So why then to we react on our pride? hurting those who hurt us? Maintaining a consistancey in the encouragement of hurting people?

Experiment: (This situation holds no moral "right or wrong" on the experimentees part. However, it involves strong matters of humility, compassion and heart). Imagine two men were to jump you in a random place at a random time and start pushing you around. They laugh and call you names as they begin to get more violent. Although you have the means to rightfully defend youself and "drop them", for the time being, it would appear that you are completey at their mercy. Yet they continue to brutally beet you down, all while laughing and calling you names. As opposed to choosing to continue being at their mercy, begging them to stop, pleading and taking the pain they dish out regardless, how many of you would fight back, defent yourself, use those means to "drop them" if available? And how many of you, with knowlege that you could "kick their asses", would choose to continue being at their mercy, continue to take their ongoing and painful beating without even throwing a punch? Even though the right (logically and morally) to defend yourself would be yours, there is a strong matter of compassion, humility and love that goes into these answers. The question could be rephrased like this: Would you take a severe beeting if it meant someone else not getting hurt? If you answer that with "But if he is the one beating me, he deserves it!" you are not getting my point and you do not have the heart you are supposed to try for. I dont think anyone deserves to be hurt. Just because someone might be hurting you, dose not make it kind, caring, compassionate and loving of you to cause hurt in them as well. So ask yourself these questions and other insane ones like them. It will help establish how you are and what goals of dispossition you are trying for. I for one have a goal of dispossition, Christ. I suck at it and am nowhere near it. But he is based off of complete and total love, humility and compassion. And therefore, I want to form myself to act and react as he would, recardless of "moral acceptings" and "rights".