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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   30485 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 21, 2022

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What cynical view of humanity? Altruism in effect is just called love. You get it from those who love you and you give it to those you love. Beyond that people are not giving anything they can't afford to give. The same way a gambler isn't really gambling if he is only betting money he can afford to lose.

I think people are shrouding their own nature in these words. 'Altruism' 'kindness'. I don't see it as cynicism to recognize that I am not giving away any of the money I can't afford to give away and that I am no different from anyone who finds themselves under the umbrella of 'Effective Altruism'.

can’t afford to give

This is relative though. I could introduce you to many people who make six figures and “can’t afford to give” any to charity, despite wasting money on lavish lifestyles that don’t even make them happy.

The point of EA, being a good person, altruism in general, or heck even being a good Christian, is to expand the circle of those you love, ideally without expecting love back in return.

I may not expect them to love me, but much of the 'help' / love for others in the Bible is of a spiritual nature rather than practical. There's no requirement to enable others sloth.

There are many Bible verses that say that there is such a requirement for practical, monetary help. Matthew 19:21, for example:

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

The moral of that story isn't that you shouldn't covet material wealth, but rather you'll get even more of it later if you follow Jesus.

deleted

EA Jesus would be encouraging the disciples to increase their downline in order to hit revenue targets so they could fund good works.

EA Jesus

Now I want this fanfic...

Luckily it already exists. https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/the-prophet-and-caesars-wife

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