>become a good person
>become a good citizen
>make the world better
That's basically the whole game right there. Or as Hillel might say, the rest is commentary.
>become a good citizen
>make the world better
That's basically the whole game right there. Or as Hillel might say, the rest is commentary.
Being nice is nice, but it doesn't cure cancer
>become a good citizen
these are skills.
these are what you teach your children.
Could essentially be saying, obey and work. A lot of people won't agree that is the ideal life. If that's not how you interpreted it then you have my point.
Dissent can be patriotic.
Teaching kids to be good slaves to the system...
That's indeed not how I interpreted it.
Being a good person, being a good citizen, and making the world better are all really sides of the same (somehow-three-sided) coin: do what you can for yourself, for your community, for your society. They apply even in the complete absence of hierarchies and higher authorities (and are indeed the very core of anarchism: making societal decisions bottom-up from individuals and the communities thereof, not top-down from some supreme executive authority).
If I could stomach being an "Optimal Machiavellian Dad" I would tell my kid:
1. Use people to get what you want.
2. Always take more than you give.
3. You're the only one who matters. Don't empathize with others.
That's the mentality that is consistently rewarded in society today.
Otherwise you get an evil billionaire child, but they don't even have the nerve to shower riches on you in your old age.
It's not a new thing either. The more history I learn, the more it's clear that these things have always been rewarded. It's also just a higher risk way to live, because if you piss off the other sociopaths they will slap you down.
kids are smarter than people realize, and they don't glean the things that people intend.
In all fairness, I know that you meant "wealthy and/or influential people". But it bodes ill at every level that your tacit belief about success is widely known and widely accepted (though certainly not universally).
Postman's book is exactly against that definition of success, though he readily points it out. He describes it in the "Gods that Fail" section of the book.
Yeah, I'm not stupid rich, but the evidence is that I'm far better put together than Elon Musk emotionally, and even happier in regular day to day life. Which is hilarious because I just had my entire life upended.
But I've never felt a compulsion to pretend to be good at a video game to impress strangers on the internet because I have responded to difficulties and personal failings by bettering myself. I embrace recognizing my faults, fixing them, and knowing that I am human.
Do you want a child like me or a child like musk?