An ye harm none, do what ye will
Utilitarian musings on the cusp of a clusterfuck
Working definitions for this essay:
Wiccan morality is largely expressed in the Wiccan Rede: "An' ye harm none, do what ye will"—old-fashioned language for "as long as you aren't harming anyone, do as you wish."
Clusterfuck is a very rude word for a complete failure or very serious problem in which many mistakes or problems happen at the same time. Example: The MAGA cult is a complete clusterfuck.
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes. It is a form of consequentialism. Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number.
This collection of essays is meant to be a thoughtful exploration of how to make the human condition more palatable for more humans. Unfortunately, that’s not what is coming for the short-term.
There are a lot of changes coming to America, and perhaps the world. They will not be positive. They will not benefit the vast majority of the humans that will be impacted by these changes. For reasons I have trouble wrapping my head around, Americans elected the king of imbeciles to be their god (for the second time). Disgusted hardly begins to describe how I feel. This sad state of affairs could have been avoided. It should have been avoided. Nevertheless, it was not, and a man-baby wearing adult diapers and pretending to be competent will be crashing the part once again.
The human species has within itself the ability to eliminate the vast majority of unnecessary suffering by individual humans. Yet it does not. Instead, we go with the status quo. One percent of us hoard 50% of the resources, forcing the bottom 90% of humans to subsist on 15% of the total available resources. Sickened hardly begins to describe how I feel.
Without going down a deep philosophical rabbit hole, I am mostly inclined to value utilitarian views of decision making. That is to say that I believe it is the result of choices that make an action right or wrong. If I have a choice between robbing two millionaires to prevent 200 non-millionaires from starving to death, I will always rob the millionaires. I believe in the good of the many over the good of the few. Trump and his cultists are the exact opposite of this. Their worldview dictates elitism, cronyism, racism, and all the other evil-isms. Angered hardly begins to describe how I feel.
The first Trump shitshow caused me to block family members, to march in the streets, and to think about becoming an ex-immigrant (I was born in Canada). The second Trump term is only a few weeks away, and I am terrified. Where is my tribe, and what are we going to do about the coming clusterfuck?
The entire American system of things is designed so that people with resources can attract more resources, and people without them die slowly, unheard, unseen, and unmourned. An ye harm none isn’t a consideration, and that is a terrible tragedy. Blocking people was not enough. Marching wasn’t either.
This criminal moron will soon be wreaking havoc again. See you on the front lines, fellow human.
My 2025 to-do list:
Sign up as a Canadian spy for when the U.S. invades.
Build an offline decentralized network of people with believe in reducing human suffering instead of growing it.
Fight the power, crush capitalism. Eat oligarchs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I think we have to prepare for a decade-long period of unrest and chaos.
The cracks and fissures in our economic, political, environmental, and societal arenas developed over 70 years.
Focusing on maximizing our individual health, minimizing useless expenditures of time and resources, and network building is a year 1 focus for me.
We are witnessing a coup. A fast moving abandonment of the little unity that existed before. A rejection of all things normal like respect for character, truth and good will.
Until now, leaders would speak of uniting us. Even if they didn't believe it. At least they would comfort the masses with their lies.
And we patriots and lovers of democracy and the rule of law are bringing a pen knife to a fight. They are bringing WMDs.
What kind of human being can watch the horrors of the LA fires and NOT say "What can we do to help?" What kind of human being invents bullshit blaming when people are suffering the loss of EVERYTHING?
It is madness. It is stupidity and cruelty on steroids.