On 9/7/2013 7:00 PM, Andrew Fildes wrote:
> I have a problem with the word 'deserving'. It's a moral judgement which I
> don't think I have the right to make.
You left out an important part of my post, the last sentence/pp and the sign
off:
"You can never really know.
Giving Pragmatism Moose"
I quite agree with you. I know that, even if I knew everything there is to know
about each individual, I still wouldn't
be in a position to make that judgement. That's why I just go with intuition,
or whatever you might call what happens in
the moment. Sometimes, my hand just pulls out my wallet and my fingers pull out
a bill, without any real involvement of
cognitive decision. Moments later, my brain will be like "You gave that person
$5, what was that about?"
Other times, it's "That person looked like they really needed help. Why did you
just walk by?" In either case, I can
make up a rationalization - or admit I just don't know.
> In the documentary I mentioned, I watched a remarkable man who made no such
> judgements do what he could to help some utterly hopeless teens and
> twentysomethings. They were alcohol and drug abusers, street kids with every
> problem you can imagine, chronic recidivists in and out of rehab, getting
> pregnant, perpetrating and suffering violence, dying, denying responsibility
> for their actions, expressing completely unrealistic hopes and aspirations
> and generally incapable of breaking out of the sinks and cycles where they
> found themselves. There were few, perhaps no happy endings.
> Almost none of them qualify as deserving in any sense whatsoever.
That assumes that there is such a distinction that is valid beyond some set of
beliefs and assumptions that are
different than those in different times and places. I don't believe there is
any such universal or absolute distinction.
> The individual I mentioned who was running a Salvation Army youth resource
> was a person of enormous patience and depth of character. I'm more that
> prepared to accept whatever decision he might make about what should be done.
> He has earned the right to make those decisions and I have not.
He's undoubtedly caught in the dilemma I posted about. Whether he wants to or
not, limited resources require him to make
such decisions. He certainly sounds better qualified than I am, too.
Tough Choices Moose
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
--
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