Posted: 2008-08-28 08:35pm
The words your looking for are 'Duty', 'Responsibility', or 'Dedication'. They aren't dirty words.EdBecerra wrote:Yes, they could. But why would they? That's what I don't understand. Why do a miserable, low-paid job when you could find better work elsewhere? That means a certain level of ... I'm not quite sure what. Faith in your fellow man? Trust in your fellow man? Damn, I'm honestly fumbling for terms here, because though I know how I feel, it's hard to describe to someone else. It's difficult to describe something I've lived with since before I can remember - you can know something so deeply, you've never had need of words.![]()
As we've seen before in this thread, you're a remarkably amoral, self-serving aberration in terms of social consciousness.Yes, a cop faces the chance a nutbag could blow them away in the middle of a routine traffic stop. Which is why anyone I'd feel comfortable being around would say "Screw this, they don't pay me enough to risk my life" and walk away to find a better paying job in the private security sector.
What are you, Rambo? You don't need to predict, anticipate, defend against, or stalk your fellow man. You just live your life, and if they live theirs they aren't bothering you. You really can't comprehend someone living their life for the greater good of a society? It imparts a LOT of meaning to one's existence, and makes them feel like they are contributing significantly, more than someone working security in the private sector.Someone willing to risk their lives, daily, for a pittance, makes me nervous. WHY are they doing it? What's in it for them? What are they getting out of it? Where's their motivation? If I don't understand them, I can't predict them. I can't predict their actions. Which means I can't prepare defenses against them.
The line was 'Good Fences Make Good Neighbors'. It was by Robert Frost, and it was in a poem where he laments that this is what people actually believe and act upon in their relationships, even though it generally isn't true. It was irony.When I do understand a person's motivations, that allows me to make contingency plans against the event that I may find myself in conflict with them. And with plans in place, I feel better. Someone once said "Good walls make good neighbors." I find that philosophy deeply appealing. Don't quite know WHY I do, I just do. (I suspect a good shrink would have a field day with my psyche...)
I'm sorry, did you just quote DOCTOR DEMENTO to defend an antagonistic, adversarial worldview?