fireworks_god said:
dblaney said: TAbsolutely! The only problem is that almost a majority of the population, at least of North America, are lazy and tend towards apathy. They don't vote, would rather not work, are content to sit on their couches and waste their precious holy moments away to some mind-numbing show, eat whatever they can get the fastest, etc. These people don't care a whole lot about culture, just as long as they can get their Whopper, and get it now.
This is a rather vauge, brazen generalization. You assert that you have reasonable consensus that this generalization is actually apt?
From what source has this understanding developed from? That is to ask, what media have you been accessing?
This understanding has developed from some of the great thinkers of the past, such as Kant and Plato, and my own observations that their assertions indeed do hold true today.
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Quote: I suppose in this respect, as in a lot of other philosophies, it's a matter of individual action, not action on a societal level.
What action on a societal level is not an action at the individual level?
Actions on a societal level do not manifest on their own.
Indeed. Perhaps I worded my statement poorly? I meant to say that individual to individual interaction would be essential in effecting a significant societal transformation. So indeed I am agreeing with you.
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Quote: I think just about everyone tries to do the first part of that: benefit themself on every level. Self-interest is a part of human nature.
It is of human nature to hold interest. As oneself is an aspect of reality and reality is a necessity for oneself....
Are you suggesting that self-interest is not part of human nature, or are you just affirming that it is, yet it is supraordinated by the general concept of interest?
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Quote: Thing is most people don't really give it much thought, they really just act in a hedonistic fashion, tending towards whatever will give them the greatest pleasure at the moment.
"Most" people? By what right do you have to assume this is a trait of "most" people? What standard do you utilize in order to judge people's actions, in order to determine if they are hedonistic or not?
None. You're right, I got a bit carried away. I would consider a hedonistic action one that is only self-serving, in the pursuit of self-gratification. Would you consider it something else?
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Quote: Yes indeed, and I sincerely hope that every one of us is doing that. But of course this raises questions like how do we know what preferred change within it is?
Simple. The change we prefer to seek, is the preferred change.
Well yes that would be the definition of preferred change. But I was referring to it within the context of McKenna's statement. When I read "and begin to interact with reality and produce preferred change within it," I got the impression that he had some certain direction or change in mind, and in fact I think that was one of the major themes of his entire talk. However my question was more of a rhetorical one, seeking to find out what he considers a morally just action to be, and how they differ from modern society's view of what is morally just.
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Quote: I mean granted that I think you and I both agree on what is morally good and bad, but what about someone like Charles Manson, he was morally certain he had to kill people, and that it would be a good thing.
How can you speculate as to Charles Manson's inner motivations and intentions, first off? Regardless, one can utilize reason and logic to determine the best course for one's preferences to follow. Taking into consideration the possible consequences is an aspect of developing one's preferences. 
Actually I thought I had remembered reading that on an encyclopedia entry under his name, although now that I look for it, I can't find it, so it must have been a fluke of my memory. My mistake.
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Quote: How are we to know for sure that he wasn't right? I suppose it could be a matter of getting rid of all opinions and preferences and then seeing if that possibility even arises (which I highly doubt it would).
"Right"? Right doesn't apply.
If being morally right doesn't apply at all to Manson, then I must be very confused, for I thought that society considers homicide morally wrong. He committed homicide. There are a few different speculations as to his motive, but whichever one may be the true motive, all of them involve murder as a means to an end. Since Manson presumably considered the end he sought to be a just one (we as society didn't and don't, however), it's no stretch to conclude that he considered the murders morally justified. So yes, I think it does apply.
I use Manson simply as an example to show the struggle of individual vs. society. Perhaps we as drug users would be a better example. Society considers drug use to be immoral, as demonstrated by drug laws and the War on Drugs. We, as individuals, consider this to be highly irrational and the prohibition itself immoral. Yet since we are a minority, the government finds it irrelevant to listen to us. This pretty much reinforces the notion that might makes right.
-------------------- "What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?"
"Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword"
- John Mayer
Making the noise "penicillin" is no substitute for actually taking penicillin.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln
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