I hate people who say "the world doesn't owe you anything"

Seems they are the ones usually born with silver spoons in their mouths.

I think that is a bit of generalization on your part.

I am not sure then what context your phrase is being used.

As a libertarian objectivist, my position is that you have no rightful claim on the property of another entity without entering into a contract with said entity.

Our society, as does all other welfare states, has a safety net for those who are unable to provide for themselves, which is a collective obligation created by a set of laws that have been passed over the years.

The degree of provision of course varies from nation to nation. The makers collectively contribute to its operation through taxes.

and no I was not born wealthy.

I would reply "Talking down to me isn't helpful."

' The world doesn't owe you anything'

Some folks who spin that retort off on others are maybe folks whose personal philosophy is one of self reliance and who never needed help. It's easy to blurt out a statement like that without taking into consideration the circumstances of the one it's directed towards.

In a lot of cases perhaps, it's said by folks with a lack of true empathy and understanding in their attempts at advice. Not always a helpful comment though maybe it's meant as such. I would imagine that statement can be somewhat demeaning.

I say that to people who 'suffer' from a strong sense of entitlement, and whine day in and day out that their life sucks, cos this or that is not going the way they want it to, yet they make no effort for it to go their way... Sorry that you hate me, and no, never even seen a silver spoon, I'm working my butt off to create a comfortable future for my daughter... Btw, I say this to friends, not random people that idk from a bar of soap, so they know I'm giving them tough love, and not just being *****y.

Yeah, it's that "sense of entitlement" that's the issue, I think.

You owe the world something.

Meh. That's my opinion.

The way we owe something to the world is when we die, we obliquely decay biologically and feed those worms what is left of us.

Death is a form of resignation for mother nature and they will salvage us; eat us.
We decay and we give back what we took from mother nature.

Technically, no it doesn't, but morally we all at LEAST owe eachother respect and compassion, unfortunately not many don't think that way. Unless someone does something to lose your respect for them or your compassion, I believe as human beings we DO owe it to eachother, if we all did respect and care about the other, be able to feel compassion for strangers, perhaps we wouldn't be living in such a crap world right now.

Oh and for the record, I take care of myself and my child and have been working very hard, and never expect a dime of help from anyone, never expect help from the government as it's useless to even try, but expecting decency from the human race should be expected, but you learn all to quickly that people are too self absorbed to see past themselves and their small group of loved ones to see others who need badly. Even if it's just an ear to listen or a sholder to cry on, we all seem to walk blindly past those unless it's someone we are close with. Well not all of us but a great majority. And I think we OWE eachother more than that

The origin of the saying:

"The world doesn't owe you anything. It was here first." ~ Mark Twain

Quote:

Originally Posted by Contrast The way we owe something to the world is when we die, we obliquely decay biologically and feed those worms what is left of us.

Unless you're cremated.

Just saying',

-Fleeing Bellocq

Oh Fleeing, you are always just around the corner to give me a helping hand.

Like you're kid sister, huh Contrast!

,

-Fleeing Bellocq

Oh yeah.

I cannot stand white-whine. I cannot stand people who think they have to be loved for the fact they breathe.

I think people who say these things are often NOT from priviledged background. Quite the opposite. And yes, it can make one bit bitter or judgmental to people who just keep wanting something from everybody.

I don't hate people who say that but I question why anyone feels the need to say it. Or to defend people who say it.
BTW I don't have any statistics... but I'd be willing to bet that most "takers" have also been "makers."

Uh, I love people just because they breathe. I really do, but i've had to learn boundaries so I don't take homeless people home anymore. That didn't turn out so well. I feel like we are all brothers and sisters , and we do want to treat each other with respect,
compassion and kindness and be carefull about what we say to one another. Also, I don't believe anyone is undeserving or beyond forgiveness.

I completely understand why the statement bothers you. A lot of "life sayings" bother me too, such as "Life isn't fair".

It is not about the World owing us anything. All the "world" is going to give us is mother nature, and such. People make up the rest of our life. When things happen that we don't choose, it just isn't fair. There are members here, young children and teens, who were born to families that do horrific things to them. Now someone tell them "the world doesn't owe you anything". I am not saying it does, but my point is that that can be very hurtful to someone.

You have these stars and athletes that make millions of dollars yearly. I am not saying they don't work for it, but believe me there are people that work a lot harder for much less. They had to put in work, but most were born with a talent the rest of us weren.'t or had families that allowed them to play sports and learn. See, I didn't have that. I had some talent but my family didn't care enough to take me to practice or even sign the forms to let me play sports. Believe me, there are people that had a MUCH worse life than me, I am not feeling sorry for myself at all. My point is, some people are born with more opportunity than others.

My belief is that we all should have to work for what we get. That doesn't mean that we can't receive help, because it is great when we can. However, we should put that help to good use and then give back when we are satisfied. As long as people work, they deserve the necessities. A roof over their head, a life partner, a decent job that can pay for necessities, and a
vehicle or other means of transportation. Again, that isn't owed to us but we work for it. Don't tell me that people that don't have those items aren't working, because that just isn't true.

I guess I wouldn't be a good therapist, but certain quotes like that do bother me. Granted, I haven't complained about life in a long time. Mine isn't perfect, but the only thing that really gets me right now is how I am no longer connected with my ex and occasional money troubles. I know it could be much worse so I keep my mouth shut. Still, I do understand why words like that would bother you and I completely understand. Maybe the world doesn't owe us anything, but did any of us choose to be born? We were put here, and now we have to suffer through everything life ("The WORLD") throws at us.

I don't take this statement as an insult. I take it as an important warning. The world owes us nothing, so we shouldn't expect anything from it. If you want something, then you'd better work to make it happen. Because it doesn't matter that you struggled, sacrificed for others, have been through a lot, etc. It's not necessarily going to bring you anything. If you expect to get something when it's not coming, then you'll just be hurt. Life isn't a barter system with rules. You can do everything right, or at least not do anything wrong, and lose it all. So never expect otherwise.

That's just a mechanism for self-defense.

Our world used to be a lot smaller than it is now. The cliche quote "it takes a village to raise a child" popped into my head as I read all this. Ideally we owe the world and the world owes us...doesn't work most of the time. I'm thinking too of James Cameron's movie, Avatar...they greeted each other by saying, I see you. Sometimes thats all we ask for, to be acknowedged.....and to take it a step further...if you see someone in need and you are able to help give a leg up without any harm to yourself should you turn your back on them? Our "worlds" have gotten too big and theres a lot of people waiting to take advantage of any weakness so for self preservation we close our eyes to need we see. We might want to help but are afraid to. If we can reduce our world for a start and help our families and our village and have these in turn help us then I agree that the world owes us something just as we owe them...I see you....

That sounds kind of fair, and I think there have always been people who believed that, even before it was given the name of "libertarian objectivism." The problem is: History regularly coughs up some entity like Ghenghis Khan. He knows about that principle and about how strongly many do believe in it. He considers that, and then he laughs.

A good point, property rights require a democratic (small d) social arrangement to protect them. The rule of law is essential then to ensure people have such rights in the first place. At the same time property rights are essential for any society to be free, with an established right to ownership of ones own body, labor, thoughts, property, all other rights become meaningless.

Dictators come and go, sometimes people choose to endure them, other times they actively rebel. The trouble with "strong" men is that it is one thing to conquer the world, but as Alexander, Ceasar, Ghengis Khan, and others have learned, to govern it is entirely different. All empires are destined to fail in the end for that reason. One can only maintain oppression for so long, then it becomes corrupt and errodes away finally imploding in the end.

Think of it this way, the US is history's most powerful nation economically and millitarily, and unique in that it is a representative republic founded on self-governance. A free people given opportunity to achieve and advance in life, can as a group, reach much greater heights than those who live under oppression.

The USSR for example had material resources equal to the US, a well educated, highly literate population. Yet despite these advantages, the Soviet Union's economic output never exceeded the state of California.

Unfortunatly for us, we (Western Civilization) have forgotten this lesson and are slowly being seduced by promises of equal outcomes, and fed the snake oil of Keynesean social manipulation (Keynes was an academic darling but his theory has so far failed miserably in every real world test) , leading to our eventual downfall and collapse. The eventual outcome will be either civil strife or the rise of a dictatorship.

Anyway getting off topic here. The point that I make is this. Obligations are voluntary. I have the right to my labor, my thoughts, etc... I and only I can make the moral choice to exercise compassion, to give to another, or to withold these things. Placing a debt upon me to which I did not agree to undertake, is basically theft.

I go to anti-war demonstration. I donate money for African children. I volunteered with refugees. Most of the souvenirs I bought on my travels were because I felt sorry for the refugee (in Italy) or old lady (in Ukraine or Albania) selling them and felt they might use my euros better then me.

So I kinda love people abstractivelly.

but to invite them into my life... breathing is not enough. They have to have passion, intelligence, spark. SOmething. Is it that much more selfish than "I don't watch news because it makes me depressed?". Talking about weather and men and shallow fluff drains me. I will respect the people (or at least not disrespect them out loud, unless they are too far gone. Worry not it goes mostly for politicians and famous for being famous celebs), but I am not gonna pretend to love them. Because I really love a lot... but I prefer to focus my love

from Timgt5

I don't understand that.