(July 6, 2017 at 5:38 pm)Court Jester Wrote:(July 6, 2017 at 3:10 pm)Brian37 Wrote: NO you fucking moron, winning is not all there is to life.
Not even evolution claims that.
Our species has a wide variety of attributes not just one. Our species can use force, and cheating to win and cruelty to win, that part is true. But we also have the attributes of nurture and empathy and compassion, and those work too.
"Win" only means you won, it does not automatically make you moral. Hitler rose to power and won, and if he had not attacked Russia Stupidly he might have been able to keep his gains. His supporters thought he was doing the right thing they thought he was a "winner" too.
The Kim family won and took over North Korea. The Castro Family won and took over Cuba. Stalin won and took over Russia. Now they were winners too. So please don't blow fucking smoke up my ass and claim winning is all there is to life.
Winning with political demagoguery are the actions of dictators and despots and banana republics. In a 1rst world western open society our politicians cannot and should not act like that. Stop ignoring the fact that Trump is no longer a private citizen.
Heck man. I donate too. Nothing wrong with that at all and I encourage it. But I'm also selective about who and what organizations I donate to as well. If you do it right, you save more on taxes by giving more to someone/something besides the government. That’s the concept of trickledown economics that people hate. Save more by spending more.
And winning really, really, really, reeeeaaaallllyyyyy is largely what matters. Empathy and compassion can be a part of that at times, but our species didn’t get where it is by being overly empathetic either. I’m sure that there have been a lot of cave men clubbed to death for a hunk of meat over the years. They won and that’s how evolution worked. Another large part of winning is the sustainability of gains and growth. You can’t do that without a little empathy and compassion; and that’s how evolution continued. However, too much empathy and compassion will quickly put you at the back of the line too. That’s how people have evolved to accept (and expect in far too many cases) welfare handouts, “free” health insurance, and the losing team at the baseball game taking home a trophy. It’s gone as far down as grown men and woman crying and being completely unable to accept that their guy or gal didn’t win an election. The winners just look back, shake their head, and giggle as they keep moving forward though. And that last part right there is what ensures long term sustainability.
What the hell does making donations have anything to do with that? I do too, but if you want to now stupidly say "I make donations" if you take a tax deduction for that, guess what, you are NOT giving that money, or object away for free. THAT is a real donation, when you don't get anything back in return. The problem with taking a tax deduction when you do that is someone else has to compensate for what you get back, or don't get taxed on.
I did take tax deductions for donations when I was younger, but I will never do it again because SOMEONE ELSE will have to pay more in taxes to compensate for what I don't pay, or for what I get back.
Giving is when you don't expect anything back in return.
The type of religious and big business charities do is counter productive. While they certainly DO provide to those in need, the best charity would be livable wages, and pay more in taxes so that MORE people are less dependent on government. Charity as it stands now is not a last resort. An ethical charity should seek to go out of business, not create more dependency.
I went recently to a county charity resale shop, donated a geriatric Lazy Boy type chair designed to help a elderly person stand up, and an electric mobile chair, both worth thousand. I could have sold them and made money off of them. But I took them to the resale county charity place, and they asked me if I wanted the paperwork for a tax deduction, and I told them the same thing I told you just now.
"Why would I ask for any favors if I am giving something away?" Anything less than a gift is really in reality a loan or a partial loan to which you get some money back. To me that is not charity.
