> Somehow between WW2 and here, we completely lost the idea of Duty as a personal responsibility.
We stopped demanding and respecting it as a society. Started to look at those adhering to such things as stupid and old fashioned, while seeing those who gamed the system as smart and clever.
I've been trying to describe this for quite some time now. I watched the below scenario with my own two eyes happen to two "friends" in about 2001.
Just look at two defendants arrested and in court for a misdemeanor bar fight. One defendant lowers his head, apologizes, pleads guilty, gets time served, anger management, and a permanent violent assault record. The other defendant lawyers up, refuses to take any responsibility, and gets away with community service with no admission of guilt.
The first guy just had his (professional) life ended before it even really began. The second guy got a slap on the wrist. The second guy will be seen as smart and savvy, and the first guy will get made fun of for being a stupid idealist.
Society has taught me that owning up to one's mistakes - and by extension sacrificing to do one's duty - isn't even respected these days, it's actively derided.
Yeah, I get this. I had a discussion with a friend about his son's education. He was divided over "do I teach him to do good, or do I teach him to be selfish? Because there doesn't seem to be any downside to being selfish these days".
I've generally experienced outsized rewards from being selfless. But then I have struggled with defining my ambition, so all rewards seem awesome. I have friends who are laser-focused on an outcome, and for them my "do random good stuff and the universe will give you good stuff back" approach is insane. They're all "fuck everyone else, I need this" and it seems to work for them. But that comes with zero sense of social obligation. And I can't see how society is supposed to work if everyone behaves likes this.
We stopped demanding and respecting it as a society. Started to look at those adhering to such things as stupid and old fashioned, while seeing those who gamed the system as smart and clever.
I've been trying to describe this for quite some time now. I watched the below scenario with my own two eyes happen to two "friends" in about 2001.
Just look at two defendants arrested and in court for a misdemeanor bar fight. One defendant lowers his head, apologizes, pleads guilty, gets time served, anger management, and a permanent violent assault record. The other defendant lawyers up, refuses to take any responsibility, and gets away with community service with no admission of guilt.
The first guy just had his (professional) life ended before it even really began. The second guy got a slap on the wrist. The second guy will be seen as smart and savvy, and the first guy will get made fun of for being a stupid idealist.
Society has taught me that owning up to one's mistakes - and by extension sacrificing to do one's duty - isn't even respected these days, it's actively derided.