Timmy84 said:

Terrib3Towel said:

Dave1992 said:

If you meant to say you simply minded your business, I would agree - it's important to mind your business.

If you, however, meant to say you only minded your own business, I'd strongly disagree that would be a good thing. If everybody minded "their own fucking business" only, you and I wouldn't even exist, let alone any sort of civilisation and humanism.

Yes, this is exactly what I meant. Case and point: this whole Trayvon Martin mess.

The media has made it race-based (which I'm not saying is wrong), but Zimmerman should have minded his own damn business, but because he didn't a young man with a bright future is now dead. Hell, I see "suspicious" people all the damn time, do I get out of my car and kill them? Hell no. Why? Because whatever they're doing isn't affecting me or the people I associate with. That doesn't mean I don't care if somone else is hurting because I do, but there is a time and place for everything.

I'll give another example. Every morning I drive to school, I pass by a planned parenthood and I see the same lady holding up the same damn sign that says something like "pray to end abortion" and I'm like bitch get a life! You have no idea what an individual is going through when they decide to terminate their pregnancy. She is doing nothing to help anybody. What she should be doing is advocating birth control and sex ed. All she is doin is making a woman feel even worse than she already is. And again, who the hell is she helping? What life is she improving?

Okay let me get off my soap box. But you understand where I'm coming from right?

I do get your drift, but I'm not convinced it's that simple really...

I don't know enough about the Zimmerman case, but in a general way - if I see somehow get beat down on the street (especially if it's someone weaker being beat down), I usually intervene and try to cool the situation down. When I feel they are absolute thugs I would probably call the police. I feel like it's my duty to help (and it actually is by law, too). I wouldn't kill anybody, though.

I agree that what that woman is doing is stupid. But you would support her to advocate birth control and sex ed (which I'd support also), but that would mean actually minding someone else's business just as she does now, with the mere difference that she would do something both of us agree would be wiser. But her notion would be just the same - to simply "spread the word" and "help".

You're right about "there's a time and place for everything". But I would add that we should also take our time (now and then) to help weaker people if we can (without harming anyone else, of course).

Dave1992 said:

Terrib3Towel said:

Yes, this is exactly what I meant. Case and point: this whole Trayvon Martin mess.

The media has made it race-based (which I'm not saying is wrong), but Zimmerman should have minded his own damn business, but because he didn't a young man with a bright future is now dead. Hell, I see "suspicious" people all the damn time, do I get out of my car and kill them? Hell no. Why? Because whatever they're doing isn't affecting me or the people I associate with. That doesn't mean I don't care if somone else is hurting because I do, but there is a time and place for everything.

I'll give another example. Every morning I drive to school, I pass by a planned parenthood and I see the same lady holding up the same damn sign that says something like "pray to end abortion" and I'm like bitch get a life! You have no idea what an individual is going through when they decide to terminate their pregnancy. She is doing nothing to help anybody. What she should be doing is advocating birth control and sex ed. All she is doin is making a woman feel even worse than she already is. And again, who the hell is she helping? What life is she improving?

Okay let me get off my soap box. But you understand where I'm coming from right?

I do get your drift, but I'm not convinced it's that simple really...

I don't know enough about the Zimmerman case, but in a general way - if I see somehow get beat down on the street (especially if it's someone weaker being beat down), I usually intervene and try to cool the situation down. When I feel they are absolute thugs I would probably call the police. I feel like it's my duty to help (and it actually is by law, too). I wouldn't kill anybody, though.

I agree that what that woman is doing is stupid. But you would support her to advocate birth control and sex ed (which I'd support also), but that would mean actually minding someone else's business just as she does now, with the mere difference that she would do something both of us agree would be wiser. But her notion would be just the same - to simply "spread the word" and "help".

You're right about "there's a time and place for everything". But I would add that we should also take our time (now and then) to help weaker people if we can (without harming anyone else, of course).

My goodness, it's 2 am here and I have class at 8:00. So let me say this and take my butt to bed lol. In all honesty, concerning the abortion thing, I don't really care enough about that type of thing to have any strong opinions. I brought up the birth control thing because I felt that it would be a better cause, but then again, why do I care? I'm a gay man, I can't get pregnant nor can I get the men I sleep with pregnant.

And it's different if I actually see someone getting hurt, that's just common curtesy. I couldn't live with myself if I just stood there and watched someone get the shit beat out of them and did nothing. My brother almost got kicked out of his college for simply trying to help somebody in that exact situation, I would have done the same. But Trayvon wasn't doing anything. He was walking down the street and Zimmerman went against the police officer's commands and got out of his truck looking for trouble. Big difference there.

I consider myself a nice guy, I haven't had a hard life or anything, but I can empathize with pretty much anybody. Yes, the weaker and less fortunate should be protected, I wholeheartedly agree with that.

Aside from looking out for myself, family & friends, not much. I'm not exactly a lover of humanity.

johnart said:

i do lots of things!!!!

but there is one thing i need to mention - only cause its weird!!!

when i c a dead animal on the road out of respect for its life i swerve the car so i dont run over it twice!!!

ThisOne said:

i do lots of things!!!!

but there is one thing i need to mention - only cause its weird!!!

when i c a dead animal on the road out of respect for its life i swerve the car so i dont run over it twice!!!

I hope everyone does that automatically! I think it would be horrible to drive over a dead animal (and it would be gross too)!

Dave1992 said:

ThisOne said:

i do lots of things!!!!

but there is one thing i need to mention - only cause its weird!!!

when i c a dead animal on the road out of respect for its life i swerve the car so i dont run over it twice!!!

I hope everyone does that automatically! I think it would be horrible to drive over a dead animal (and it would be gross too)!

no lots of ppl dont care

and if its a roo i would stop and check 4 a joey, but lots of ppl done care and its just sooooooooooooo sad!!!

and ppl tell me i'm weird 4 doing it - but i just hate the thought of contributing to running animals over

there r no roos where i live. but if i go 4 long drives there r and u see heaps dead on the side of the road

[Edited 4/19/12 6:16am]

Not a lot. I guess I adopt a Dr Manhattan-esque view on humanity and my place in the scrum. Without his crystal palace on Mars, unfortunately. I have a bigger willy though.

I don't think one can live in a vacuum; if you are only concerned about you and maybe some of yours...

I'm invovled in grassroots, local, and national politics... being aware of public policy and how it may come into conflict with our rights as citizens. I've lent my legal expertise over the years to various organizations and causes; I"m a person of faith so I'm a worker at my church.

========================

[Edited 4/19/12 7:38am]

it's been said throughout history

but mike said it as well as any body

"if you wanna make the world a better place

take a look at yourself and then make that change"

so again, i try to make myself a better person daily...

RodeoSchro said:

I try to help other people every chance I get.

How, for instance?

Dave1992 said:

RodeoSchro said:

I try to help other people every chance I get.

How, for instance?

Any way I can. If they need money, I get it for them. If they need physical assistance, I give it to them. If they need cheering up, I try to cheer them up.

The thing I want to get started is reading to people. I absolutely love to read aloud, and if I can find the right avenue, I'd like to do it for hospital patients or senior citizens.

I also want to get involved in mentoring kids and inmates. I developed a great success plan and I tried to market it to the public but it flopped (funny story, I should tell it some time). But I know it's information that young people need. Also, prison inmates could use it, too. I spent some time in prison a few years ago, and it was eye-opening. (I was with a church group, not an inmate!)

I'm active in a big charity and that's great, but it's helping people one-on-one that I enjoy the most.

That's really great Rodeo I used to help a lot, but stopped for awhile cause some people were acting ungrateful and then I realized overtime I was the one who had to change my attitude and now I can see where I went wrong, kinda

alphastreet said:

That's really great Rodeo I used to help a lot, but stopped for awhile cause some people were acting ungrateful and then I realized overtime I was the one who had to change my attitude and now I can see where I went wrong, kinda

Thanks, but notice that half stuff is stuff I want to do, meaning I haven't gotten off my ass and done it yet.

My hope is by posting it out there, that will keep me accountable!

RodeoSchro said:

alphastreet said:

That's really great Rodeo I used to help a lot, but stopped for awhile cause some people were acting ungrateful and then I realized overtime I was the one who had to change my attitude and now I can see where I went wrong, kinda

Thanks, but notice that half stuff is stuff I want to do, meaning I haven't gotten off my ass and done it yet.

My hope is by posting it out there, that will keep me accountable!

Write it down and let it go. It'll pop up somewhere in a few years and you may find you did most of it if not all. That's how you send it out to the universe, and be pro-active after that.

im not giving up on the human race just yet.. think there are lots of people out there doing their bit to make this place better, but perhaps they just dont shout about it... why would they, if they are not after any type of reward or gain...?

i like these quotes, which i have noted down over the years:

'each single gain feeds into the gains of the body collective'

'you dont have to think about doing the right thing, if you are for the right thing you do it without thinking'

'there is no light as full of hope as the dawn'

'in happiness to others, you know happiness'

'if a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him'

'help thy brothers boat across and lo! thine own has reached the shore'

some others:

'we must become the change we want to see'

'because reality hardly seems real, why assume that dreams are really dreams?'

'a gift opens doors, it gives access to the great'

'the way to happiness - keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry, live simply, expect little, give much. Fill your life with love, scatter sunshine. Forget self, think of others. Do as you would be done by'

'men aquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way'

'in all things its better to hope than despair'

...

Dave1992 said:

Is it important to "care" beyond our own home, family and life? Or is life just a game with no rules and why should we give a fuck if we're dead and for ever gone in the end anyway?

I think trying to make the world a better place is important for your own mental hygiene and I believe that happinness has what it takes to be the world's first and only perpetuum mobile, meaning that once we all invested in each other's happinness and well-being, it can be maintained for ever.

So, what do you do to make this world a better place? And why do you do it?

I agree..

When I can afford to, I donate to organizations & causes I believe in/support - HRC (Human Rights Campaign), Humane Society and other animal charities.. Red Cross.. National Audubon, World Wildlife Fund and other environmental orgs, HIV/AIDS walks or rides, etc.

I try to share what I've learned with ppl... if I see/hear of injustices, I speak out about/against it.. even if it's ppl I don't know--

I don't understand how some ppl don't care what happens to their fellow man... there are too many suffering for me to ignore/look the other way/be selfish.

there is, I believe, power in positive thinking and acting.. how can things get better if we don't care about -- and for -- each other?

PositivityNYC said:

Dave1992 said:

Is it important to "care" beyond our own home, family and life? Or is life just a game with no rules and why should we give a fuck if we're dead and for ever gone in the end anyway?

I think trying to make the world a better place is important for your own mental hygiene and I believe that happinness has what it takes to be the world's first and only perpetuum mobile, meaning that once we all invested in each other's happinness and well-being, it can be maintained for ever.

So, what do you do to make this world a better place? And why do you do it?

I agree..

When I can afford to, I donate to organizations & causes I believe in/support - HRC (Human Rights Campaign), Humane Society and other animal charities.. Red Cross.. National Audubon, World Wildlife Fund and other environmental orgs, HIV/AIDS walks or rides, etc.

I try to share what I've learned with ppl... if I see/hear of injustices, I speak out about/against it.. even if it's ppl I don't know--

I don't understand how some ppl don't care what happens to their fellow man... there are too many suffering for me to ignore/look the other way/be selfish.

there is, I believe, power in positive thinking and acting.. how can things get better if we don't care about -- and for -- each other?

I like the red cross and all-I just wish that they would spend less on administrative costs. If memory serves me right, the San Diego head received like 500,000.00 to run it for 1 year. That pay is over the top-seeing how it's a charity. Their excuse was that anyone who can operate such a large organization should be paid that and probably more. I believe 60 minutes did a in depth story on it.

I couldn't run that organization for more than 100,000. I would donate the rest back to the charity.

I have done charity events where I pay all the costs and 100% of the proceeds go to the cause. (I did that for the local library.)

kewlschool said:

PositivityNYC said:

I agree..

When I can afford to, I donate to organizations & causes I believe in/support - HRC (Human Rights Campaign), Humane Society and other animal charities.. Red Cross.. National Audubon, World Wildlife Fund and other environmental orgs, HIV/AIDS walks or rides, etc.

I try to share what I've learned with ppl... if I see/hear of injustices, I speak out about/against it.. even if it's ppl I don't know--

I don't understand how some ppl don't care what happens to their fellow man... there are too many suffering for me to ignore/look the other way/be selfish.

there is, I believe, power in positive thinking and acting.. how can things get better if we don't care about -- and for -- each other?

I like the red cross and all-I just wish that they would spend less on administrative costs. If memory serves me right, the San Diego head received like 500,000.00 to run it for 1 year. That pay is over the top-seeing how it's a charity. Their excuse was that anyone who can operate such a large organization should be paid that and probably more. I believe 60 minutes did a in depth story on it.

I couldn't run that organization for more than 100,000. I would donate the rest back to the charity.

I have done charity events where I pay all the costs and 100% of the proceeds go to the cause. (I did that for the local library.)

just for the San Diego office?!

damn... I worked for 10 yrs at the HQ of a national non-profit.. Pres/CEO of the whole she-bang didn't make that much... and when the recession started to hit, they let some staff go, but also had a raise freeze on all salaries

At that level though (at least where I was), there's a lot of travel involved; I'm sure a good chunk of the $ goes to that