“money is the unit of caring”, so the optimal way to help a charitable cause is usually to earn your max cash and donate, as opposed to working on it directly.
This is false. Giving food directly to starving people (however it is obtained) is much better than throwing financial aid at a nation or institution and hope that it manages to “trickle-down” past all the middle-men and career politicians/activists and eventually is used to purchase food that eventually actually gets to people who need it. The only reason sayings like the above are so common and accepted is because people assume that there are no methods of Direct Action that will directly and immediately alleviate suffering, and are comparing “throwing money at it” to just petitioning, marching, and lengthy talks/debates. Yes, in those instances, years of political lobbying may do a lot less than just using that lobbying money to directly buy necessities for the needy or donating them to an organization who does (after taking a cut for cost of functioning, and to pay themselves), but compared to actually getting/taking the necessary goods and services directly to the needy (and teaching them methods for doing so themselves), it doesn’t hold up. Another way of comparison is to ask “what if everyone (or even most) did what people said was best?” If we compared the rule of “donate money to institutions you trust (after working up to the point where you feel wealthy enough to do so)”, and “directly applying their time and energy in volunteer work and direct action”, one would lead to immediate relief and learning for those in need, and the other would be a long-term hope that the money would work its way through bureaucracies, survive the continual shaving of funds for institutional funding and employee payment, and eventually get used to buy the necessities the people need (hoping that everything they need can be bought, and that they haven’t starved or been exposed to the elements enough to kill them).
This line is confusing in an article about “being mature” being an unnecessary and even counter-productive to self-development and rationality. Why did you even mention those? Did you want a pat on the back? Do you feel you met the requirements of being a “mature child” by not doing those things? That seems like the exact opposite of the rest of the article. There have been many posts on LW about how biases and mental structures “linger” long after we have quite believing and embracing them (usually referencing religious belief), and it seems that is what was happening here. You have inadvertently classified those activities as being “stupid teenager” activity, or to rephrase it “immaturity”, despite having rejected maturity as a good means for identifying correct, moral, or rational behavior.
People of any age may try drugs, may abuse drugs, may use them recreationally, religiously, medicinally, under peer pressure, in order to impress or meet initiative requirements, or even to commit suicide. There is rational and safe drug use (emotional use, hormonal response) as there is irrational, dangerous and addictive use. As Anonymous_Coward4 already mentioned, the majority of the “drugs” and behaviors you mentioned are completely culturally constructed, and you might be seen as a drug-user (or even abuser if you’re a constant smoker/coffee drinker) or hormonal, or angry/depressed based on a particular group’s demarcation. What demarcation were you using that you brought this little quip in as a point? It seems like you are grouping those actions under a common node....that of immaturity, to which I’d point you back to your article (minus a sentence) to explain why that’s problematic and undeserving of recognition or compliment. In fact many of those things mentioned in that sentence say more about your privilege than your virtues. Many people are forced to drive, even if they wake up not-quite-sober, because they can’t afford to miss work, or let their kids miss their school/events; many people actually have parents that don’t love them (and strong empirical evidence to prove it, sometimes beat right into their flesh); as for the peer pressure immunity, sorry but I’m going to have to call bullshit. Do you mean that you didn’t go to the popular kids parties, didn’t join the football team, and didn’t socialize much? That’s a whole lot of people, and you may have avoided some peer pressure, but it’s just because your peer pressure was coming from somewhere else (like your parents, role models, and smart friends/teachers who (whether you admit it or not) helped push you to think more critically, pushed you to “be the best” rationally, and to be able to “win” arguments). Even if all of what you said is true, it really isn’t noteworthy, unless you can show how it makes you more rational, moral, or efficient, rather than “mature for your age”.