1. No. I would not cut in line and certainly not hit/shove someone for a laptop, be it for me or for a loved one. In my mind there's no reason to debase yourself that way for mere luxuries, and a computer is a luxury item even if you "need" it for school or work. There are ways around that... borrowing from a friend, splitting the cost with someone else, public comps at the library, etc
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1 - no for myself, potentially yes for a loved one - depends what its needed for 2 - hopefuly no for myself, yes for a loved one (unless I knew the person behind me had children to feed)
3 - yes - I think I would probably steal by that stage - killing them for it? I don't know and hope I never will. Ive never been that hungry. At the end of the day I'm an animal with the same survival drives as any other animal, at some point these will override my humanity and sense of empathy. The drive for survival eventually conquers all.
What has this to do with martial arts? ultimately these are them or you situations. Reverse the roles. How far would you go to defend/protect yourself or a love one? Would you traumatise another? would you blind? cripple or maim someone? would you kill?
It's imposssible to tell in each case, especially in the harmless-sounding scenario 1: why is it needed, how essential is it, does only some immediate small issue depend on it or someone's continued livelyhood? I think I would cross more lines for a loved one than for myself, though. In each scenario, I think I might also resort to pleading to get closer to the resource, if I felt it was needed more urgently for my purpose. I like to think I might do this even on behalf of a stranger (say, a person in the food queue who was obviously in worse health than others), but I am not sure whether I actually would have the courage. I do not think I would kill in cold blood, but if it came to a fight I am not sure what it would take for me to loose restraint.
As to the relevance to the martial arts, I do not think anything I can add to fingermouse's summary
What some of my students are saying.lilgabbymacMay 17 2011, 16:01:29 UTC
These are some deep and thought provoking questions! The answer to all of these would be no. I would not cut or hurt anyone to get what I needed to survive. To hurt others to get what I want is why I train in martial arts. It reminds me not to do it. With great power comes *great responsibility not only to yourself but to others. What separates us from animals is our humanity. And our humanity and the way we act and carry ourselves is contagious. Be kind and you will breed kindness. Be evil and mean and you will breed meaness. Martial arts is about character development and being able to find alternative solutions to your prolems. Life is not worth living if we come down to living like animals and killing and pillaging and raping and maiming each other just to survive. I'd rather commit sepaku first. This is where I stand on this. I would love to hear other people response to this
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2 - hopefuly no for myself, yes for a loved one (unless I knew the person behind me had children to feed)
3 - yes - I think I would probably steal by that stage - killing them for it? I don't know and hope I never will. Ive never been that hungry. At the end of the day I'm an animal with the same survival drives as any other animal, at some point these will override my humanity and sense of empathy. The drive for survival eventually conquers all.
What has this to do with martial arts? ultimately these are them or you situations. Reverse the roles. How far would you go to defend/protect yourself or a love one? Would you traumatise another? would you blind? cripple or maim someone? would you kill?
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I think I would cross more lines for a loved one than for myself, though.
In each scenario, I think I might also resort to pleading to get closer to the resource, if I felt it was needed more urgently for my purpose. I like to think I might do this even on behalf of a stranger (say, a person in the food queue who was obviously in worse health than others), but I am not sure whether I actually would have the courage.
I do not think I would kill in cold blood, but if it came to a fight I am not sure what it would take for me to loose restraint.
As to the relevance to the martial arts, I do not think anything I can add to fingermouse's summary
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