Forced altruism

 The conversation has gone off topic and we've gone off on a tangent and gone off into "what happens to people when they die," but before that, we need to think about "how to live in the present."

First, save yourself before you save others

So, the answer I've come to is simple:

"Work."

That means working. Any kind of work is fine, as long as it's a legitimate job.

It's fine to volunteer or donate in the name of saving others, but wait, where will your food and money come from? If you're not independent first, you'll quickly run out of funds and resources and end up being the one being given. This won't do. It won't last.

Or you might be enthusiastic about saving others, and jump into the midst of the poor like Mother Teresa, become a revolutionary fighter like Che Guevara, or stand up for the people non-violently like Ghandi. I certainly admire them, but if they're too great, too dazzling, and their goals are too high, you'll feel your own powerlessness compared to them and feel depressed. This is no good either. It doesn't last long.

I think God, or Buddha, is merciful, that is, more kind. I wonder if that kind God, or Buddha, would ask all of us to play the role of a superhero or superheroine, a mass of self-sacrifice. He must have prepared something simple that anyone can do that will still make us happy.

I think that's what "work" is.

If you stop and look at your life, you'll realize how much it is supported by the labor of many people, that is, by work. For example, when you ride a bus. First, there's the person who drives the bus. Without that person, the bus wouldn't run. Then there's the person who makes the bus. Without the car company, there would be no bus in the first place. And then there's the fuel to run the bus. Gasoline, diesel, and in some cases natural gas are needed, so there's the energy company. You also need jobs to dig for oil, and you need tankers to transport it, and you need tanker trucks to transport it to gas stations. If the bus runs on electricity, you'll also need a power company. And buses run on roads, right? You also need jobs to build roads. When road construction is going on, you'll need security guards. Let's say you get on a bus and go shopping to buy food. If you buy tofu, you have to think about the people who make the tofu, the people who grow the soybeans that are the raw material, the people at the supermarket who sell the food, and the people who grow the rice when you buy it. There are countless jobs that support even a small part of our lives. And if any of those jobs are missing, the world won't turn, and our lives won't go ahead. There are some big people and some people at the bottom of the company who do those jobs, but the world won't turn if there are only big people. People at the bottom are also indispensable. Some people refer to them as "cogs" and look down on them, but isn't it okay to be a cog? No matter how big a machine is, if one gear is missing, it won't work properly. If it were an airplane, it would be a major accident. So I will devote myself to being a cog and do my best to fulfill the mission I've been given as a cog. Or I can be a cell. Human cells have their own roles. Just as each cell plays the role of one out of 37 trillion of all human cells, I will do my best to fulfill the mission I've been given as a cell of God. If you think about it, there aren't even 10 billion people in the world, so one in 10 billion is a lot bigger than one in 37 trillion. It's a surprisingly big responsibility. And the work that each of us does is done so that the whole can live. In other words, work is an altruistic act. And because we can only live if the whole lives, it is ultimately for our own sake. In other words, altruistic and selfish acts are integrated in work.

Some people often say that work is not altruistic because we get paid for it, but I think that's wrong. In the first place, if someone does something for us, do we just say "lucky!" and leave it at that? Everyone has pride, doesn't everyone have dignity? If someone does something for us, if we don't give something in return, our pride will be hurt. In other words, if we do something and don't receive a reward, won't we be hurting the other person's dignity? We are in a position like God, giving unconditional love and looking down on others. We are placing ourselves and others in a relationship of savior and saved. Isn't this arrogant? Therefore, as equals, we must accept rewards. It's not that we can accept them, but that we should.

If you think about it, if you can't survive without working, you can't live without acting altruistically. No matter how selfish or egoistic a person is, they will end up working to survive. In other words,

"forced altruism."

This world is not such a bad place after all. I think this system is amazing. So, no matter what a person's personality is, I unconditionally respect and appreciate those who work and have jobs. It's often said that a job is a sacred profession, but I don't think there is any job in the world that isn't a "sacred profession."

Of course, cheating, deceiving people, selling things they don't need, or charging exorbitant fees for work because you are only thinking about making money is not work, because it harms the interests of the other person and ultimately the interests of society. Such actions are punishable as "crimes." Furthermore, it is also "unfair" to make people work and not pay them accordingly, as this weakens each individual cell and ultimately undermines the overall interest.

So, in terms of how to live now, the first thing to do is to "work."

And for most people, that's the best they can do, right?

And that's fine.