I think I agree with a lot of the object level content of the post (and I once fell into a years-long depression due to my own inability to live what I wanted my values to be), but I also would add that there needs to be a lot of initial and ongoing work done, by a lot of people who don’t need or necessarily want to be doing it, in order for us to exist in a world where we (and most people) can have the kind of freedom you’re talking about, in a meaningful way. You don’t have to be the one doing it, but someone does, and we’d better hope they have the kind of ideals which involve valuing other peoples’ well-being. Which, of course, we get mainly by encouraging the best, brightest, and most-likely-to-be-influential to have those kinds of values.
See John Adams:
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.
And then what happens in the 4th generation? Someone in each generation needs to be at the John Adams equivalent object level, and manage to become powerful enough to keep the virtuous cycle going.
I think I agree with a lot of the object level content of the post (and I once fell into a years-long depression due to my own inability to live what I wanted my values to be), but I also would add that there needs to be a lot of initial and ongoing work done, by a lot of people who don’t need or necessarily want to be doing it, in order for us to exist in a world where we (and most people) can have the kind of freedom you’re talking about, in a meaningful way. You don’t have to be the one doing it, but someone does, and we’d better hope they have the kind of ideals which involve valuing other peoples’ well-being. Which, of course, we get mainly by encouraging the best, brightest, and most-likely-to-be-influential to have those kinds of values.
See John Adams:
And then what happens in the 4th generation? Someone in each generation needs to be at the John Adams equivalent object level, and manage to become powerful enough to keep the virtuous cycle going.