#34030 - 01/15/10 08:03 AM
Ubuntu (the philosophy)
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Baron dHolbach
member
Registered: 12/29/09
Posts: 162
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Ubuntu is an African cultural concept described by Nelson Mandela as follows:
"A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?"
Because Ubuntu is usually explained and lauded by RHP types, the language used may irritate the sensibilities of the Satanist. But I would say Ubuntu can be adapted to the LHP.
First, it is entirely compatible with Atheism, as evidenced by the above quote, which never mentions God or religion or the afterlife. You will find Christians such as Bishop Desmond Tutu lauding Ubuntu, but that doesn't make Ubuntu a Christian concept. It isn't. Nor is it Muslim, nor Hindu.
Second, Ubuntu is entirely compatible with amorality, with a beyond good and evil orientation. You will find Ubuntu described in the context of moral goodness, because the speaker or author is RHP, but Ubuntu can be interpreted from the perspective of enlightened self-interest. The goal isn't righteousness, but rather, mutual benefit.
Game theorists have been telling us for years that the biggest prize doesn't always go to the biggest bastard. Success in life isn't always zero-sum. Cooperating with others can be a winning strategy. Lex Talionis can be pre-emptive and benign. If I'm fairly certain you would invite me into your home for dinner if I showed up at your doorstep hungry, then I may choose to invite you into my own home for dinner. Helping someone who is likely to help you some time in the future can be very smart.
Ubuntu fits in nicely with the mindset I suspect the Satanist soldier or sailor maintains, expressed in such sentiments as, "No one gets left behind." If I'm fairly certain that, if I were wounded, you would carry me on your back while running to a better battlefield position, then I may well decide to carry you on mine, at considerable risk to my own safety. This is Ubuntu.
_________________________
The baboon is the soul of man.
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#36137 - 03/07/10 05:41 AM
Re: Ubuntu (the philosophy)
[Re: Fist]
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Asmedious
Moderator
active member
Registered: 09/02/07
Posts: 973
Loc: New York
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I definitely can see myself helping out, and even welcoming a traveler who is need of food, water, and a temporary place to rest, even without thinking about how I might be given the same consideration in the future by someone else.
On the other hand, I do differentiate between a “traveler,” and a “bum,” looking for a handout. Someone who is traveling is likely following some kind of a goal that they have set for themselves, either that of reaching a place, or just seeing the sights. If it is within my power, and I don’t lose a great deal in the effort, I am in favor of assisting someone else in reaching their goal.
A bum on the other hand just leeches off of the inherent generosity of others.
As “Fist” stated, it is likely that this helpful attitude is somewhere in our genes for the purposes he stated. To assist in the survival of the species.
The only part that I might possibly question is the “Quid pro Quo,” idea, in other words the idea of doing it for the possible future benefit of the one helping out. Although I can also see how that may be debatable if one looks at the larger picture, as in perhaps being repaid in kind through future generations.
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"The most important right a government can provide for it's people, is the right to be left alone"
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