The author presents an interesting point of view and to be honest, it makes me sad because the more I reflect on it, the more I agree with his position. I really, really hate to conclude that my generation fucked things up so badly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/opini ... EHi3nKjKUQ

Interesting article. If you go back to 1776 there is that line "we pledge our lives , our fotune , and our sacred honor -----' . There was a feeling of social responsibility and the willingness to pay a price, in more than campaign contributions, to achieve a new goal. They took a risk but a risk as a group or society.There were mutual responsibilities and obligations. That feeling is lacking. Today the slogan is "I got mine, fuck you" .

The writer has good observations but fails to point out that freedom is actually freedom of choice. We choose to be selfless and we choose to be selfish. I like it. I base my life on this. I choose what is worth living for, fighting for, working for, dying for. I need no one else to tell me what these are and I have no desire to define those reasons for anyone else. To each his own. Freedom.

Though some of this work is problematic, it sounds a little like revisiting Erich Fromm: by achieving all of this selfish, individual freedom through escaping our social obligations, we have this enormous, gaping hole in our lives, which we fill with authoritarian leaders and disposable consumer goods.

I feel like my life would have taken fewer pointless, arduous turns if they taught both economics and philosophy in high school.

LibShooter wrote:The author presents an interesting point of view and to be honest, it makes me sad because the more I reflect on it, the more I agree with his position. I really, really hate to conclude that my generation fucked things up so badly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/opini ... EHi3nKjKUQ

Unto One's Self Enough