Yes, everyone is owed something

11 Comments

No one chooses to be born into this world. Every baby and every child deserves to be cared for and deserves to know what love is. We are hardwired by billions of years of evolution to care for one another. If we weren't, our species would have died out long ago or would not exist in the form it does today. We are completely reliant on each other whether we want to face that truth or not.

Kindness and showing others basic respect is not weakness, it is strength. Being antagonistic towards others and not wanting to extend a helping hand towards your fellow man in need is a sign of weakness and goes against human nature.

I don't know why the mentality of "no one owes you anything!" Caught on, but it's deeply flawed and falls apart rather easily if it's thought about for more than a couple minutes. There are children, the sick, disabled, and elderly and there is evidence even dating back to prehistoric times we have taken care of these people and loved them. If you have that mentality, strip naked and move out to the woods by yourself, free from all civilization. Then you would be living in the world you truly want, where no one owes you anything and the only things you receive are from your own work.

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Comments ( 11 )
  • KholatKhult
    1 year ago

    Tell ‘em !

    The historical context of early human altruism you mentioned is incredibly important to this argument as I’ve heard people call such behavior a “new age” thing. Which couldn’t be further from the truth. We are a social and reliant-upon-eachother bunch, we do incredibly well when we pick up where eachother struggle

    Kindness is consistently observed in nature, there would be none of any of us if it weren’t for nurturing from our parents, and our parents have benefitted from the support of the ‘village’. Even outside of the human species altruism and care for the weak/elderly/young is very well documented.

    There is immense pride to be had in the thrival of your herd, it’s pure patriotism to support your fellow countrymen, and we are absolutely equipped to ensure security for everyone.

    You word yourself well OP

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  • Tinybird
    1 year ago

    Every adult as well is also owed human rights, but especially disabled people

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  • malaparte
    1 year ago

    Even if you moved out into the state of nature, you still would be reliant upon forces outside of your control; you didn't spontaneously generate your own nutrients, you got them from some animal that was unfortunate enough to cross your path. You didn't water those berries with naught but the sweat of your brow, they were nurtured by the sun, soil, rain, the decomposed remains of other lifeforms, and other things not fully within your control. Even nature isn't so cruel as some of these wannabe John Galts.

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  • ospry
    1 year ago

    I think it's because people often associate the word "owe" or "owed" with entitlement

    All I can say is that during pretty rough times in my life, I've tried two opposite approaches. The first one was to have a fuck-off attitude and purposefully antagonize people online just to piss off and offend others because I was feeling angry and ugly inside. The second approach was to try to be empathetic and maybe share a kind word with someone online each day

    Between "no one owes me anything/I don't owe anyone anything" and "I owe this person some decency and an attempt to understand them", the latter has had a much greater impact in my life

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      1 year ago

      The second one is definitely a better approach, even with some members of this site.

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  • JellyBeanBandit
    1 year ago

    Yeah, the people who say this are the same people who want to do away with the minimum wage and who want people to die because they can't afford healthcare.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      1 year ago

      That last one really resonates with me because I can literally die without my anti-convulsants. That isn't to say the minimum wage isn't important either, it totally is and I 100% support a fair minimum wage (which is a long and drawn out convo on its own), but the fact that another person's life is so worthless to someone else is terrifying.

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  • Clunk42
    1 year ago

    I agree with your general message, but I don't agree with your specific declaration. We should, of course, help each other. It is only just that we do so, since it is (generally, at least) an injustice to allow others to suffer. However, humans are not "owed" anything. People are supposed to be good to each other, not because it is owed to those people, but because it is part of humanity's purpose to defend its own existence.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      1 year ago

      I can agree with this, I think we may just have a difference in semantics. I think the phrase "No one is owed anything" is really loaded and means different things to different people too.

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  • kikilizzo
    1 year ago

    Its true though. A person has to earn things. Im not gonna respect anyone who hasnt earned it from me for example. I expect the same from everyone else.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      1 year ago

      What does "earning respect" mean, though? Does a person have to earn their right to survival, a right to food, and a right to live in basic human cleanliness?

      What about an infant? Have you ever cared for one? Horrible experience, and I only had to care for my youngest siblings for a week, but my sister's screech could tear a hole in your eardrum. Not the only time I've cared for babies but the longest time I have for the youngest baby. They do NOT respect you back, and you still have to care for them. It's not a give and take scenario.

      My mother also took care of people with Alzheimer's. It's tragic and horrifying. Sometimes they think you're there to harm them and will pull out a weapon like a knife even though you're trying to take care of them as their brain is decaying. It isn't their fault, it's a disease and they're losing the battle. But they still deserve to be cared for. I remember running up and down the halls of the place she worked at, seeing people at different points of mental decay. One person's behavior could change so rapidly.

      About a week ago I tried to give a homeless woman a Gatorade and she rejected it, saying she would throw it away if I insisted on giving it to her. She was halfway through a vodka bottle. I said okay and gave it to a homeless man who was nearby who accepted it happily. I think the best thing we can do is treat people how we want to be treated. I want people to be treated with kindness and like they deserve to be here, that despite the harshness that the world has handed them there is still a little piece that wants them here. There's too much unhappiness, nihilism, and anger in the world and people mistake it for intellectualism and see any kind of positivity as naivete. It's not.

      A baby is born. It deserves love.

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