Author Archives: cmac

Community

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In  the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy the word that stuck most in my head was community. In my area people pulled together setting up shelters, sandbagging the beaches and sharing their homes and food with those who didn’t have any.

Community centers like libraries and the YMCA played a big role opening quickly after the storm and offering a heated place to stay, electricity to charge gear and a sense of community. Everyone was in it together.

Where do you most feel a sense of community? How has it helped you?

Persistance= Jobs

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The media is still flooded with downer articles about people’s struggles to get work and to get decent paying work. It takes extreme persistance and will power in the current economy to find what you need. Even more than that sometimes, you have to re-evaluate, re-assess and try something new. Like the old saying, “The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome.”

America, let’s see that pioneering spirit that keeps going and keeps seeking out new ground! What do you think about being persistant?

Hope: To Be a Cynic or an Optimist

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Some people say being optimistic and hopeful is deceiving ourselves. Others feel being hopeful is the way to keep the mind open to new possibilities. Closing our minds means we won’t recognize them even when they appear. Should we be hopeful even in the face of a roller coaster economy that disappoints often?

 

Courtesy: Does It Make the World Go Round?

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As with any web site, we get our fair share of spam- all of which is carefully edited out to make this a happy and enjoyable place to discuss philosophical and humanistic issues.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone interacted in ways where the other person was put first and treated with courtesy and politeness? (And think of how much time would be saved and how much more smoothly interactions would go if people acted according to social norms and read directions on web sites….Please make posts ONLY if you posting a quotable, pithy or amusing thought that doesn’t include selling something to unsuspecting members….)

Ideal: Plato and Life Goals or Even Political Elections

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So often we have an ideal image of what we want in our heads (maybe even a Platonic ideal form)- an ideal job, an ideal spouse, an ideal president even. Does it help to have an ideal image to work towards? Or does it only frustrate if (and usually when) we fall short- since ideals can not exist in reality?

Ethics and the Law: Ilegal versus Immoral

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For some people the keeping within the law is a strategy game where one studies the rules and risks. For others the moral implications are more important. Ethics can be seen as the glue that holds society together- the essential factor that makes it possible for many people to live in close proximity without having war break out (at least that’s the objective). So do we follow the law only as necessary to minimize risk of punishment or to make a coherent workable community?