Have you ever asked the above question? I'd be surprised if you didn't. In every generation young people rally for freedom. Be it Woodstock or Occupy Wall Street, it's all about the same: freedom. To let no one tell me how do I live. Of course (most of) them are not idiots and aware of the fact that your freedom will always be limited by the freedom of other people. Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose. Most of them accept this and demands only governmental oppression to end. I mean they accept that they can't just walk to other person's property but they don't accept that some clerk telling them they can't drink, can't smoke weed, can't drive fast, can't sing on the street, can't do this, can't do that, despite no one would get hurt.
The libertarian, objectivist and somewhat the Tea Party and right-wing organizations are demanding the same on a more coherent level. But there is no result. There isn't a country where "clerks" don't tell you when to walk, when to stop, what to wear, who to marry, what to smoke, when to drink and other countless things. The contrary: even countries that were more free are tightening governmental control. They peek into your mail, they strip-search you on the airport, they might even drop a drone on you and kill you with your family if they guess you are up to trouble. And the people in general agree with this.
There were political movements for more freedom but they all failed. Controlled systems simply outcompeted free ones, contrary to objectivist beliefs freedom did not liberated the power of men to create a better world for their self-interest.
I was objectivist longer than average people, way beyond my youth. Most people trade freedom for welfare or nationalism, I'm free of both. I don't think that "unlucky" people deserve help nor I think my countrymen are more my "brothers" than any random human. I've been preaching for self-interest, caring for ourselves, not taking responsibility for anyone else but taking responsibility for ourselves. I simply realized that my self interest demands to allow a "clerk" to decide when can I walk, when can I drink, what speed can I drive, what can I wear and so on.
The reason for this change is playing EVE Online. In this game the freedom one can dream of is available. The GMs don't tell you what to do, there isn't "governmental" punishment for any in-game action. The trailers are true that here only your abilities limit how far you reach: you can be filthy rich, you can be powerful, you can be revered hero.
Socialists believe selfishness is evil. They believe that the "bad" people are those who engage in zero-sum games. I take your money in a scheme, I have money, you don't. They believe that capitalism is a set of zero-sum games and only the good government could protect us from the "greedy capitalist" who doesn't care if he hurt us while he takes what he wants. Capitalist believe that selfish actions are productive to the World, as it's always easier to make a bigger pie and cooperate than take from others, especially as the weak is by definition poor, so you can't really take anything from them.
EVE proves the capitalist dream. The group aren't the pirates or a world conquering army, they are industrialists and traders who create value and serve other people. Our billions come from transportation, price stabilization and the service of providing instant buys and sells. If you look at the ISK-billionaires you can see how wrong the socialists are. I truly believe that any socialist can be converted by making them play EVE.
But I saw something I didn't expect. Something that the objectivist and even the socialist books don't write about. Something that gives a new meaning to the word "evil". It's not the people who ignore suffering. It's the people who want it. Many-many EVE players set out not to gain money or power or fame but to "harvest tears". Other people suffering isn't just something they can live with. It's something they can't live without. Their games aren't zero-sum but negative. They destroy things for no self-interest or even interest in destruction itself. They don't care about the ship they destroy, they do it to make another person sad. Their prize is not ISK or sovereignty but chatlogs proving that someone is angry or sad.
These people cannot be set free. There must always be a clerk who tells them where to go, what to do, what to smoke, what to tell because in the minute they do what they want, they go and hurt people for no reason. Most players gladly trade their freedom, their ability to own stars for the control of CONCORD, because it's easier to live by the rules than constantly fighting griefers who has no other reason to attack than their assumption that I will cry or rage if they succeed.
Of course they are not spawns of the devil, they are simply people on the third level of their development. They realized that the "help the weak" is simply a scheme exploiting them and they want to regain control. Dominating someone gives them the feeling of this control. They aren't evil to be exterminated, they are able to do great things, but to do so they must be kept in check. As long as vast majority of the people are not rational, there must always be a government oppressing these people from doing what they really want: harvest tears.
The libertarian, objectivist and somewhat the Tea Party and right-wing organizations are demanding the same on a more coherent level. But there is no result. There isn't a country where "clerks" don't tell you when to walk, when to stop, what to wear, who to marry, what to smoke, when to drink and other countless things. The contrary: even countries that were more free are tightening governmental control. They peek into your mail, they strip-search you on the airport, they might even drop a drone on you and kill you with your family if they guess you are up to trouble. And the people in general agree with this.
There were political movements for more freedom but they all failed. Controlled systems simply outcompeted free ones, contrary to objectivist beliefs freedom did not liberated the power of men to create a better world for their self-interest.
I was objectivist longer than average people, way beyond my youth. Most people trade freedom for welfare or nationalism, I'm free of both. I don't think that "unlucky" people deserve help nor I think my countrymen are more my "brothers" than any random human. I've been preaching for self-interest, caring for ourselves, not taking responsibility for anyone else but taking responsibility for ourselves. I simply realized that my self interest demands to allow a "clerk" to decide when can I walk, when can I drink, what speed can I drive, what can I wear and so on.
The reason for this change is playing EVE Online. In this game the freedom one can dream of is available. The GMs don't tell you what to do, there isn't "governmental" punishment for any in-game action. The trailers are true that here only your abilities limit how far you reach: you can be filthy rich, you can be powerful, you can be revered hero.
Socialists believe selfishness is evil. They believe that the "bad" people are those who engage in zero-sum games. I take your money in a scheme, I have money, you don't. They believe that capitalism is a set of zero-sum games and only the good government could protect us from the "greedy capitalist" who doesn't care if he hurt us while he takes what he wants. Capitalist believe that selfish actions are productive to the World, as it's always easier to make a bigger pie and cooperate than take from others, especially as the weak is by definition poor, so you can't really take anything from them.
EVE proves the capitalist dream. The group aren't the pirates or a world conquering army, they are industrialists and traders who create value and serve other people. Our billions come from transportation, price stabilization and the service of providing instant buys and sells. If you look at the ISK-billionaires you can see how wrong the socialists are. I truly believe that any socialist can be converted by making them play EVE.
But I saw something I didn't expect. Something that the objectivist and even the socialist books don't write about. Something that gives a new meaning to the word "evil". It's not the people who ignore suffering. It's the people who want it. Many-many EVE players set out not to gain money or power or fame but to "harvest tears". Other people suffering isn't just something they can live with. It's something they can't live without. Their games aren't zero-sum but negative. They destroy things for no self-interest or even interest in destruction itself. They don't care about the ship they destroy, they do it to make another person sad. Their prize is not ISK or sovereignty but chatlogs proving that someone is angry or sad.
These people cannot be set free. There must always be a clerk who tells them where to go, what to do, what to smoke, what to tell because in the minute they do what they want, they go and hurt people for no reason. Most players gladly trade their freedom, their ability to own stars for the control of CONCORD, because it's easier to live by the rules than constantly fighting griefers who has no other reason to attack than their assumption that I will cry or rage if they succeed.
Of course they are not spawns of the devil, they are simply people on the third level of their development. They realized that the "help the weak" is simply a scheme exploiting them and they want to regain control. Dominating someone gives them the feeling of this control. They aren't evil to be exterminated, they are able to do great things, but to do so they must be kept in check. As long as vast majority of the people are not rational, there must always be a government oppressing these people from doing what they really want: harvest tears.
0 comments:
Post a Comment