No One Has A Gun To Your Head
The Daily Stoic for July 22nd, “No One Has A Gun To Your Head”.
“Nothing is noble if it’s done unwillingly or under compulsion. Every noble deed is voluntary.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 66.16b
I agree that we need to do the right thing because we want to. Not because we are forced or compelled to. That’s why I dislike the Christian concept of sin, heaven, and hell. You need to act nobly because that’s how you feel like, not because you want to avoid a eternal punishment.
No One Has A Gun To Your Head
However, what’s acting nobly exactly? And for whom?
Most European countries engaged in wars during medieval times thought they acted on God’s name. Obviously, either one -or all- of them were wrong, or God has an admittedly dark sense of humor.
That gives you a clue of how we all think to be acting rightfully. Morality, religion, good and evil, are subjective concepts. So that means that what I see as just and fair can be seen as shadowy or even evil by another person.
I also think that there’s a demonization of business or earning money for a service lately.
This tweet was from yesterday.
I’m tired of crypto conferences charging $2000 and now family office conferences that are charging people/GP’s thousands of dollars to help educate investors about the asset class. Give me 2 months & I’ll figure out a free summit, bringing both sides together to learn. Who’s in?
— David Nage???? (@DavidJN79) July 21, 2018
While I agree that charging $2000 is too much for a conference, isn’t this guy devaluating knowledge? Yes, I know there are many charlatans out there charging a lot of money for showing some obvious stuff about blockchain and bitcoin. However, people who are experts at something earned that knowledge and expertise. There’s nothing wrong in my mind in charging for it.
Hence, noble acts are voluntary… but most folks can’t live out of noble acts. There’s nothing wrong -in my mind anyway- in earning money for what you know, your experience or your skills.
Conclusion
So while I mostly agree with today’s Daily Stoic, “No One Has A Gun To Your Head”, there are two important remarks to be done here, as not all good deads are seen as such by all people on earth.
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