(August 25, 2015 at 2:19 pm)abaris Wrote: You know lkingpinl, I'm always just a little bit suspicious if something ends in ism.
What I subscribe to are humanitarian values in their broadest sense. Hoping for a better world than we have now. And that includes getting rid of isms, since in their vast majority they're just flags to rally behind. Well, maybe there is an ism I can subscribe to: Individualism. Which I don't define as everyone for themselves, but as trying to make up one's own mind about what is iimportant for one's life.
I can understand that and kind of reiterates what i said in other threads about how when we identify ourselves with certain labels we are incontrovertibly align ourselves with ideas we may not support as an individual. For example if I say I am a white upper-class, Jewish democrat, you automatically assume I believe and prescribe to certain claims and ideas. I've opened myself up to unfair ridicule for something I may not actually believe in. I have no problem with individualism.
We are not made happy by what we acquire but by what we appreciate.
