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Supporting Forces |
Opposing Forces |
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The
Golden Rule is advocated by
most religions and cultures around the
world. |
I don’t know what the Golden Rule means. Interpretations of the Golden
Rule are often ambiguous, unclear, or unkind. |
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It is the
right thing to do. It makes people
feel good. This is
gratifying. It provides an expression of your spirituality. |
This is corny, no one else does it.
The present culture is an unsupportive context. We lack any
community supporting this level of
compassion. A fiercely competitive environment is normal, and we
become complacent to cruelty. We don’t
notice when the Golden Rule is broken, because predatory behavior is
considered normal. |
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It is the path to world peace. |
I am special. I deserve
special treatment and cannot be bothered squandering kindness on the
masses. Ego involvement, selfishness, greed, impatience, overload, and
holding power-over others make this difficult. |
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It provides a simple guide for living your life. |
I’m not going to be kind to a jerk.
It is difficult to have compassion for a
jerk. |
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I have to protect myself from my attackers. Fear
is inevitable in a world filled with danger, scarcity, and
pain. |
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I’m not going to be kind to my enemies.
It is difficult to feel compassion for
your enemies. Enemies bring out our hatred, spite, and revenge. |
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If I don’t oppose my rivals I will lose.
It is simply unwise to assist your rivals and help out your opponents.
The world is based on competition, and I plan to continue being a tough
competitor. There are always zero-sum games I must win and scarce
resources I must compete for. System analysis such as the Tragedy of the
Commons and Tit-for-tat prove I have to be aggressive and retaliate or I
will lose out. |
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Oppression crushes compassion. |
