by allenwrench » Fri 08 Aug 2008, 19:38:02
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('the_red_pill', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('darwinsdog', 'W')hat difference does it make if you & your wife survive, if you don't have any kids or grandkids? You're both just "disposable phenotypes" after all. The zygote is just the gametes' way of making more gametes. You should spawn all the kids you can, or else quit wasting resources that could be used by other people & their kids. Life is only & all about Darwinian fitness - or didn't you know that?
It makes a very big difference to us personally. We elected to not have kids because we frankly did not want children. Neither of us have the "urge" to have a family. It's simply a personal choice, and like you, most other people(friends, family, etc) don't understand this choice we made. I don't expect nor honestly really care if anyone understands this. But fortunately, both of us do and are in *absolute* agreement regarding this. We're very happy with the lives that we have, enjoying the good moments we have now while preparing for an uncertain future.
It's late here and I'm tired but I don't get your post, are being sarcastic? Spawn all the kids we can?? The world is already way too overpopulated. Are you suggesting my wife and I, uh, terminate ourselves so we don't waste resources by existing?? Huh?
Survival instinct does not depend on having kids.
If anything, sometime having kids kills this instinct from all the life sucking hassles we get from raising kids.
But whether we are parents or not, we all have the same basic survival instinct in common with one another.
What IS required is a degree of selfishness for the successful survivor to develop. (If this selfish component is not nature based within them.)
It is a hard fact of life that the Survivor must be Selfish in order to SURVIVE.
Just be authentic with what you do and you can be at peace with whatever the outcome is.
For one to be Successful at Survival understand the importance of all the 'S' words and how one's Success at Survival balances on the interaction of all the 'S' words and by practical application of a Successful Survival philosophy.
And while we do need a modicum of Smarts to be a Successful Survivor...well, let me paraphrase the title of an old post I wrote so it is apropos here:
'Academic Smarts are not the Same as Survival Smarts.'
The realities of being a Successful Survivor are this.
To be Successful at Survival requires one to be Selfish as opposed to Selfless.
It is impossible to be a Saint and Save everyone in the world that has not done their preparedness footwork to Supply their emergency needs.
Just Sharing Some of your emergency Supplies with one other person may put your life in jeopardy.
So now there are two deaths as opposed to one.
But only you can judge how many lives your Supplies can maintain and your desires to be philanthropic can Support.
Don't ever let another person tell you otherwise. The one's doing the browbeating are usually the one's that have done little in the area of preparedness.
But the concept of Sharing goes beyond just Sharing Supplies. It also encompasses Sharing our time and our energies - for Survival can be a full time job just to keep ourselves and our loved one's alive.
We are all human and have limitations, so we can only Spread ourselves so thin before we Start to develop cracks in our health - whether it be mental health or physical health.
The Successful Survivor must accept that the Self must come first. And while it is unfortunate that the foundation of that Success is based in Selfishness and not in philanthropy...that is what the reality of it is.
If we lived in a perfect dream world, then we could wipe out all these unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances that would cause one to have to prepare for possible disasters, upheavals and emergencies.
But the cold hard facts are that the business of Survival is not always nice and pretty - but it is always rooted in putting the preservation of one's own life first.
This book gives goes into detail with this topic of 'Survival Philosophy'.
I highly recommended it...get it from your library
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Sur ... 051&sr=1-1
Mental preparedness and physical fitness are the foundations of all our Survival quests For the mind guides the body, but an unfit body is not able to respond to the minds guidance.
We become mentally prepared when we are able to use the 7 Skills to defeat the 7 Enemies of Life
The 7 Skills:
Fire Starting
Water Procurement
Shelter Building
Foraging for food
Signaling
First Aid
Self Defense
7 Enemies of Life:
Fear and anxiety
Cold and Heat
Thirst
Hunger
Boredom and Loneliness
Fatigue
Pain and Injury
So in essence, we develop Self confidence by mastering the Skills needed to overcome any Situation that arises to threaten our life.
Let me delve into the concept of Selfish versus Selfless actions a little more. I don't wish to promote the wrong view that being Selfish is the key to being happy and at peace.
As the Taoists tell us...fleas come with the dog. And if one desires to be a Survivalist, then one must accept some fleas to come with the job.
Most humans have a natural desire to help those in need. It is part of their makeup. But we must accept that we have built our world on unsustainable means - a means built artificially on fossil fuel.
And when we live out of balance with natures intended means there is a price to pay to come back in balance with nature. And the price usually extracts pain from us in the adjustment process.
The world is in a death Spiral. It is just how we have built our world over the years. We can't blame any one person for this fact - we are all to blame. It would be one thing if we all reverted back to rural living, burning trees for fuel and housing and living within our comfortable means allotted to us by nature, as our ancestors did back in the day.
But seven billion people can't burn the trees!
It has been estimated that for the earth to Sustainably Support its population without fossil fuels a 90% dieoff must occur. I don't know if that figure is right, but I do know humans could not live as they do unless it was funded by artificial means via fossil fuels. Our life on earth has been 'pumped up' via steroids and growth hormones a.k.a. crude oil.
So if this dieoff happens, of course there will be great amounts of pain in the world. But it is natures intended balancing act. It also reminds us that nature does not bow to humans - it is humans that always bow to nature.
Will this dieoff occur? I don't know. Some genius may come to the rescue and find a way to burn water and we can keep consuming carefree. but there is still the question of petrochemical use. Irrespective of burning crude, petroleum is an irreplaceable component of many other products we consume.
http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%2 ... roleum.htm
Animals live within their intended balance with nature and it is only man that destroys his environment and has to pay the price through pain and Suffering from working against nature.
This is why we humans need moral guidance or a moral conscience since they have a 'free will' of Sorts. If we did not have such a feature we would soon Self-destruct.
Actually it is like this.
We are free to do what we want -- but are not free to want what we want.
All our actions have consequences, and many of our actions produce consequences that end up destroying peace. (both ours and other's peace).
This is what separates us from the animals that run Solely on instinct.
Humans run by instinct as well as moral guidance. And what makes us a human is why we even have to discuss this question of helping others in the first place.
This question of Sustainability is the key to helping one make the tough decision as to whether to help another out with their provisions or energies.
If whatever you offer is available to you in unlimited amounts or amounts that would be hard to deplete, then one may not have to be so concerned with Sharing such bounty. (Although Sharing anything with desperate people also has the potential for Security problems irrespective of the question of Sustainability.)
But whatever way you decide to proceed...be authentic and you can be at peace with your actions.
The 'authenticity acid test' would ask the question; 'Would you do the same thing again knowing the outcome of your actions?'
If you would not do it again, then your actions are not authentic, since you are not at peace with the outcome.
Authenticity is the key to being at peace. For even if you or your loved ones must die early to gratify one's philanthropic desires, then one can be at peace with that outcome if one authentically puts philanthropy above personal Survival.
This all goes back to my quote on Thoreau and the subject of pride...where do we put our pride?
Do we put our pride in helping others first and ourselves and our family Second?
Or do we put our pride in Self preservation?
...In the end you only have to please yourself with your actions...just be authentic with what you do and you can be at peace with whatever the outcome is.
My wife is learning how to sew and make garments from scratch.
