In a message dated 12/11/99 12:44:44 PM Central Standard Time,
pholden5@earthlink.net writes:
<< Would it be too much to ask where you got the idea that helping
others “in need” throughout the world is high quality? From religion?
From teachers? From your feelings?
I don’t find much in the MOQ to support your view that it’s immoral
to “sit back and enjoy life when so many people in the world are
suffering and dying.”
In fact, doesn’t Pirsig’s solitary trip down the Hudson in a
comfortable yacht, thereby “choosing not to participate,” belie your
definition of “humanity’s biggest problem,” at least in MOQ terms?
In light of Pirsig’s assertion that “If you eliminate suffering from the
world you eliminate life,” I’d be interested in your opinion of the
MOQ has a moral guide. It would seem that you and Pirsig are
deeply at odds. >>
Platt, I wish I could say that I totally understand the MOQ, but I don't. I'm
not sure if anyone here totally understands it, otherwise we wouldn't see so
much disagreement from many very intelligent people. I'm not sure where my
idea comes from that helping others is high quality, but I doubt it comes
from religion or teachers.
Pirsig is no saint. He admits that picking up bar-women such as Lila is
immoral, and if I remember correctly, he even said composing the MOQ itself
was immoral. Pirsig is just as guilty as the next person when it comes to
complacency. So am I. But recognizing our guilt is the first step, and many
people have yet to do so.
So far no one here has presented a persuading argument as to why it is ok to
sit back and enjoy life while so many others are suffering and dying.
This whole thing started with my outrage at volunteers asking for donations
to a high school baseball team. Not a single person, it seems, shares my
outrage. A couple of people responded by saying essentially that baseball
makes kids happy.
Now I want to suggest that perhaps pursuit of happiness in this day and age
is immoral.
Lots of things make kids happy. Maybe our kids shouldn't be happy in this day
and age. Maybe if we started telling them how terrible the world is, our kids
would sober up. It might make them better adults.
If a child spends his entire childhood pursuing happiness, chances are he'll
continue to pursue happiness when he grows up. And there are too many happy
adults in the world.
Not many people have the guts to say happiness is a bad thing. But is it
really good to be happy in a world full of death and suffering? Just about
everybody would have a violent knee-jerk reaction if somebody told them they
shouldn't be happy. But the truth is, we *shouldn't* be happy in today's
world. At least, those who love humanity shouldn't be happy.
I'll never forget watching a made-for-TV movie many years ago about a little
girl dying from cystic fibrosis. Towards the end of the movie, when the
little girl was on her deathbed, she asked her father to go buy her some
soda. The dad went to the supermarket and had to stand in line behind a very
cheerful old woman who was carrying on a cheerful conversation with the
cheerful cashier. The man stood there stoically, waiting for the two women to
finish their cheerful chat so he could buy the soda and bring it home to his
dying little girl. Later that day, she passed away.
I'll never forget that image, a man consumed by pain, standing behind two
happy people who didn't give a shit.
There's lots of dying people in the world. Should we only care when it's a
member of our family that is dying? Should we be oblivious to the pain of
strangers?
I think humans will look back with revulsion on this period of history. They
will look back and say we put our happiness and our entertainment above
helping others. All the people who currently say how great the world is, how
great the state of humanity is, will be remembered as being profoundly wrong.
And we in America, who had the potential to do the most good, did nothing but
keep ourselves entertained. We made idols of movie stars and billionaires. We
wasted time trying to implement change by passing ridiculous laws. Passing
laws is not the way to change things. Change must come from within.
And our poor kids. Generation after generation we instill in them the belief
that their ability to make money is more important than anything else. "You
can start being a humanitarian after you've got a job making lots of money;
and even then, you better put your job first. Everybody has to fend for
themselves in this world, son."
Some may think the alternative I suggest it overwhelmingly bleak. But if you
think about it long enough, you will see that it is not bleak. It may *feel*
bleak at first, especially to the kids. No more spending money on movies and
baseball. No more ignoring the pain of others.
Happiness would eventually return to the world. A more profound, more moral
happiness than we now experience. Today's happiness is built on a foundation
of death and suffering. We're all guilty.
Maybe one day the average person will wake up and not think: "How am I going
to entertain myself today?" but think instead: "Who's suffering am I going to
alleviate today? Who's life am I going to help save?"
Would that be such a terrible world?
Jon
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