Help me understand this. Common life advice is to "live for yourself, do what you want".
But a part of me thinks that if everyone were to do what he/she wanted, nothing would get done and society would fall apart. We'd have a lot less workers and a lot more artists and athletes which doesn't seem sustainable long term.
Whenever I think about doing what I want with my life, I always think about the generations before me who were drafted into war, or took shit jobs and worked in factories to make a living for themselves- not exactly what they "wanted to do" I'm guessing. There's always this talk about milennials being entitled and whatnot...
Is chasing a passion ultimately an utterly selfish and unethical goal? Why be a painter when you could be helping uplift a poor community somewhere? Why be an athlete when you could be working at a power plant making sure a city doesn't go through a blackout?
>>17356024
>Help me understand this. Common life advice is to "live for yourself, do what you want"
In what sector of humanity is that common life advice? Poor ugly minorities?
>>17356025
Click literally any thread on this website And c 4 urself
>>17356024
>Why be an athlete when you could be working at a power plant making sure a city doesn't go through a blackout?
because the population is so big that someone else is likely working in a power plant. Also, we produce so many resources that not everyone really needs to work shitty jobs. not everyone can work the good jobs, that is why we have qualifications. the most qualified people get to work the jobs they want, while the people who fail dont have much of a choice. if there was a shortage of people needed to work an incredibly important job, the pay would increase and people would eventually want to work it.
>>17356024
There isn't a dichotomy between helping yourself and helping others.
I think that when choosing what you want to do with your life you have to take various things in consideration.
What makes you feel proud of yourself? What are your skills/talents/abilities? How much are you willing to sacrifice? How will your choices influence people around you?
You manage to find something fulfilling, that you're good at because it is related to you skills, and it doesn't make you or others miserable.
Intelligent people will make choices that benefits themselves and others.
>>17356024
If you feel a need to contribute to society, then doing that WILL be doing what you want.
Your life is not your own and was never meant to be. No man or woman was self-created or could have made it through their early years alone.
So yes, as an adult you owe parts of your life to others. To society, you owe labor and skill mastery; in turn, you gain the means to provide for yourself. To your family, you owe care and provision; in turn, you gain all that having a family can mean, which is too expansive to dwell on deeply here. And so on, as it can vary.
Life was always a two-way street. Anyone who says otherwise is mired in perpetual childhood.
>>17356024
If you're an Amerifat then it boils down to stereotypes. That's right, the stereotype that you need a university degree to have a "dream job" and a 6 digit income. Also whatever bullshit Disney/Hollywood stars have been spewing out for the last few decades.
See what all that bullshit has got you into.
Noone wants to bother helping others or getting dirty helping themselves.
All unsustainable.
>>17356024
Psssssht....... Hey kid....... Ever heard of "Union of egoists"?
>>17356124
get your skeletons away from here boy
>>17356104
>To society, you owe labor and skill mastery; in turn, you gain the means to provide for yourself.
lol but what if he can provide for his family with out working a labor job?
>>17356206
>lol but what if he can provide for his family with out working a labor job?
How is he doing that?
This question is only semi-rhetorical. There are lots of ways it can be done. Some of them are good, and some of them are not. The good ways tend to fill the obligation through other means. The not-so-good ones, well, don't.
>>17356155
My skellys are better than your spooks, ya boipucci
