Maybe I’m a pessimist, maybe I’m a nihilist, or some other lame definition. I think a fundemental question that lies deep in the heart of most discussions or debates on morality is whether or not human beings are ‘good’ by nature.

Man is good. Man is evil. In western philosophy, in modern times anyhow, it seems that people in general lean more towards the good than the bad. People are afraid, I think, to admit that there’s an innate selfishness in all of us, it’s something so very basic at the core of our being that drives us towards survival, towards our ambitions, our wants and needs. It’s obvious when you think about it. If everything is even and the only thing that seperates you from me is that I’M me, I’m going to choose me. Of course we have our social circles, and people we genuinly care for, but those circles are very small when shit gets real. We’re all just looking out for number one. And that’s ok. Who else should I be looking out for?

It’s kind of nice to just not care too much about anyone else. That sounds worse than I mean it. I mean it’s kind of liberating just coming to terms with your own selfishness. It allows you to more easily focus on yourself and not worrying so much about everybody else. It’s also hepled me appreciate the people who are close to me, the people I really care about. I think living your life for yourself is the best way to live it. That sounds like some daft instagram post I know, but it rings true for me. It’s nice not wasting time doing things or pursuing goals that people expect of me. As far as I know I’m not here for that long so I don’t want to waste it trying to appease people who’s opinion I don’t acknowledge. That makes me sound like an asshole again. Maybe I just am an asshole.

There are different thoughts on this of course, but I think an interesting place these ideas manifest themselves is in politics. There’s a very fundamental question in politics, at least in my mind; Should you vote in your own interest, or in the interest of the greater good?
The answer isn’t really clear. Of course, the people who want to be (or appear) virtuous might say it’s the latter, but in the interest of democracy the former gives the best results. If everyone votes in their own interest you get a very accurate map of the society’s interests or political standings. The issue is that usually the group who votes for themselves will win, because if just 1% of the population votes in the interest of the greater good, the selfish win, because you no longer have an accurate representation of interests, and the numbers start weighing towards the selfish. It’s obviously a lot more complex than this, and by complex I mean I don’t understand it.

I don’t really know where this went, I wrote the title because it sounded cool and just started riffing underneath. This whole blog is just a writing exercise anyways so the context isn’t hugely important. By writing exercise I mean it’s a way for me to just practice getting my thoughts into words, which is something I’ve struggled with my whole life. It’s very sastisfying when you can accurately and poignantly express your thoughts through words, but it’s not something I can make happen very often. Hence just practice practice practice.

I started this thinking I should have specific topic for each post, where I write about my thoughts or feelings about a subject but now I’m thinking I’ll just freestyle the shit out of this, jazz it up you know. Total brainvomit.

Freestyle jazz blog, no rules, fuck it. Gonna be fun. Not even gonna proofread this, fuck you.