In class, we've been constantly discussing how people do or don't have a responsibility to society, looking at that, what we need to think about is what each person's motivations are, and what leads them to do actions. As an example, take a wealthy public figure and imagine they did something to make the public or media mad, so next to get back on the good side of the public, they would make an expensive donation, or start a charity, or even just apologize to have the public and media back on their side. Now some would, no most would say that's just them that doesn't apply to the "average joe," then think of this, a complete random person, "your average joe" if you will, donates to a charity. Why did they do this? To be a good person or because they have a duty to society, no, they did this because, in the end, it makes them look better to the public, or even if it's an anonymous donation, they are still making themselves feel better by doing this action. What I'm saying is each and every person, rich, or poor, makes every choice based on how it affects them short or long term, you chose your friends, because how they make you feel happy, they entertain you, or make you look cool. You choose a school based on how they will teach you, or what you get out of going there. Each choice a person makes in their life is always going to be a "selfish choice" to a degree. From brushing your teeth to what you believe your responsibility to society is. It's nota bad thing, it's human. You have no responsibility to the people around you, other than to keep them around for yourself. If you believe you have a responsibility to society, it's because you want it to be better for yourself.
Now that our eyes have been opened to rhetoric I have begun to notice how rhetoric is used everywhere. I tend to specifically notice rhetoric in media, really just advertisements. Many advertisements will use a rhetorical appeal to build and construct arguments to sway consumers to pursue and purchase whatever product or service the company is selling. With advertisements in media, it's a bit different than the rhetoric we have been studying in class, in-class we only really see rhetoric in say a court setting, or someone talking to a group of people with there full attention. But with advertisements people aren't usually paying close attention to them, so ad companies have to find a way to get the important information across, while grabbing, and keeping, the attention of the consumer, all while within a thirty second to a couple minute time frame. So what advertisements are, is a simple version of rhetoric where a company is trying to convince masses to purchase whatever the
You make a very good point about people being selfish within society. We as a society paint a picture that we should donate to charity or help our fellow man, when in reality we do it out of selfishness. Even though selfishness is the leading driver for a growth within society, we should be doing good deeds out of the kindness of our heart. Have you ever read/seen "The Great Gatsby", the underlying message is that everyone is out for their own agenda, and they do not care about those of their peers in the end.
ReplyDeleteThis post raises a wonderful allusion to enlightened self-interest, or the belief that even altruism stems from our own innate selfishness or self-interest. However, I believe you then do have a responsibility for others, because their well-being improves your own. For instance, say you are walking down a city street. The sun is shining and everyone is well-dressed and greets you with a smile. You get to work and school in a better mood, enlivened. Now imagine another scenario: in this one, the sun is still shining but the people are mal-contented and homeless, laying on the sidewalk in their own piss. You watch your back around alley ways. You get to work with an elevated heart rate and a sense of anxiety. Now, which scenario do you choose? Obviously the first, right? Thus, the actualization of people around us affect us personally. Therefore, it is in our best interest to wish the best for others.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this post. I feel that most things that I do in life, even though I hate to admit it, is all out of self interest. I believe that as a society this is only getting worse. With social media, we as a people have become more narcissistic. We only care about making ourselves look good and making ourselves seem perfect. In this, we have only become worse at looking out for others. In a perfect world we would be more aware of the people around us and more willing to give than to receive. Not that their aren't people out there who are willing to give but many times, like you stated, it is often only to later brag about our "giving nature" and to make ourselves seem more caring than we actually are.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a lot of very good points, and sadly many of the "good deeds" people do in society is out of selfish matters. However, I don't believe that everyone who helps other's does it for their own good. Many people do things from the goodness in their hearts, but they don't seek out recognition or appraisal for the good they are doing. Because certain people don't seek attention for the good they do you don't hear as often of people doing charity for the right reasons. For instance, when I was a little girl I really wanted a Monster High bunk bed for my dolls, but my mother didn't have the means to buy me it. One day I came home and laying in a box was the toy I had wanted. This toy wasn't from my mother, but one of her close friends, Crystal. Now people didn't know about it, she didn't post what she had done for me across the media, because what she had done for me came from the raw and beauty that sat in her heart.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a very good point about the people in our society being selfish. We should be doing good things for others out of kindness not for fame or to get attention. No one in our society really cares about others unless its your friends or family, which makes it even more sad for us.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people in society are selfish. Yet I don't believe this is a bad thing. I think anything you've worked for or earned through your hard work is yours to decide what you do with it. I think society and people believe that everybody should be giving and helpful but i believe thats selfish of society to be like that. I think people do the bare minimum but want people to help them when they have did all the work. I think it makes society lazy and complicit with where they are in life. I do believe that there are some people in society that actually need help and have no control over where they are in life. Yet as a society we look at citizens to help with these issues rather than our own government.
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