What is your price? What wouldn't you sell?

I've noticed that most humans would sell out their values if given enough diversion.

So I'm wondering...what are your most deeply held values? And when have you sold them out for a diversion or convenience, or, conversely, refused to?

"All pain is a punishment, and every punishment is inflicted for love as much as for justice." — Joseph De Maistre.

My most deeply held value is that I'm destined for greatness.

The only thing I would never sell is the potential to be such.

edited 26th Jul '11 9:30:53 PM by KingZeal

I'd rather give away than sell anything.

Given that my ideals would lead to, in essence, bread and circuses in perpetuity means that I was born a quisling. Besides which, the weight of the world fits my shoulders poorly.

edited 26th Jul '11 9:41:06 PM by DarkDecapodian

Aww, did I hurt your widdle fee-fees?

@OP: I really can't answer that, as it would depend entirely on the situation. There is no value, opinion or what-have-you that I can say is worth more than anything I'm likely to encounter ever.

There are things I would not give up easily, and parts of me that definitely would not be surrendered without a struggle. But as to something I "just wouldn't do"? Sorry, At this point I'll say I'd do anything, sell anything and become anything with the necessary motivation.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

My deepest held value is that humans have no right to harm other humans, and to help them where possible. As I've probably done plenty of hurtful things in my life, even by simple inaction, I'd say I sell out that principle every waking moment of every day.

edited 26th Jul '11 9:44:56 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

This one would discard everything she holds dear if pressured enough. This one is a coward, and knows it.

As for diversion - this one does not quite understand what you mean by it. Could you offer some examples?

If we disagree, that much, at least, we have in common

Hierarchy. I refuse to work under an unmitigated piece of shit. Should I accept a job and my employer is proven to be more incompetent than I am, I will quit. I'm not an Almighty Janitor and no one should have gotten their position through nepotism or tenure.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt." - Some guy with a snazzy hat.

I for one fail to see the cowardice in such an approach. People who say "I'd never (X)!" clearly have very little imagination.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Well I mean it's like, would you commit a crime if offered money? No. Would you commit a crime if your loved ones were threatened with death? Probably.

My most deeply held values are The Brahmavihara and have been such for most of my life though I was not aware that Buddhism had made a fancy list perfectly describing them.

They are mudita, uphekkha, karuna, and metta.

The first is empathetic joy. The ability to feel the joy and happiness of others. To be happy with them and to want to see them happy. The second is equanimity. The ability to accept all things with detachment and without favoritism. A complete awareness and acceptance of reality. It is without ill will and it is warm. The third is compassion and mercy. The fourth is loving kindness. An equal love spread to all living beings. A love that persists even in the face of wrongs. A desire to see all living beings happy, healthy, wise, and living wholesome lives.

I would love to say that I would not sell this. That I would not cave in and accept defeat. I cannot say with certainty that I would stand up for it at all times however.

There are certainly times in which I abandon these beliefs or violate them. I must strive to not do that. To be flexible and wise about these things, but to be firm and strongly grounded.

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Duty. When I decide that a certain task or responsibility is my duty, I can't be bought or persuaded.

That said, what I consider duty, and what my job title says are my duties are a little different.

It is my duty to never lose hope in the future and to strive to build and influence the future.

It is my duty to always attempt to negotiate and compromise first, but to realize when I've hit a brick wall and react pragmatically and accordingly. Not knowing when words aren't good for anything is even more dangerous than not using them in the first place. It makes you weak, and being weak is unacceptable.

It is my duty to protect the people I decide deserve protection, unless they purposely instigate and cause their own problems out of malice.

And it is my duty to destroy those who prey on the weak, when it is practical.

Everything else is up for grabs. I'd assassinate someone for 20k if I didn't think the client was fishy. -shrug-

As for what I value? Strength, not of the physical sort, of the mental sort. People who can deal with struggle and hardship with a stiff upper lip and a sense of humor, and actively try to solve their problems instead of expecting someone else to deal with them or burying their head in the sand until the crisis is over.

edited 26th Jul '11 10:25:57 PM by Barkey

My own comfort and contentment, and the well being of the small handful of humans within my monkeysphere. The rest is complicated. I value freedom of expression, negative utilitarianism, and other ideals, but I'm not sure about the extent to which I can be said to actually value those things in and of themselves versus the extent to which I value living in a world that includes those things. In other words, it might be said that I merely value those things as a means to maintaining my personal comfort and contentment.

One point of evidence in support of this theory is the fact that I definitely don't care whether any particular ideals are upheld after I die. Also, I too am a fan of the Lotus-Eater Machine— the most appealing utopia I've ever seen depicted has been the cyberspace setting in The Metamorphosis Of Prime Intellect. In theory, I'd be willing to abandon this world for such a setting.

I don't have hard-and-fast values, but personal survival trumps most things.

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

My integrity. I hold personal honour too highly to ever trade away for cash.

If I was ever asked to do that, I would just take the money and welch out of my end of the deal.

edited 28th Feb '12 7:05:26 AM by joeyjojo

hashtagsarestupid

I would never sell rules I have agreed to follow. Any law or rule you can't bribe me to break or bend.

Please.

I think that there aren't really any rules that are 100% unbreakable, or actions that are 100% evil no matter what. If you threatened a busload full of people in front of me, doubtless there's a lot of things that I would do to prevent their harm short of causing a greater number of deaths myself.

But If the only thing at stake is myself, my happiness, and my life, then I like to think that I will never kill another person except in defense of another person's life. I will not cheat, or be dishonest, or steal for my own personal gain except in defense of my life.

Of course, I've never been tested, so who knows if I will hold to these things?

Be not afraid...

I probably wouldn't sell my consciousness (or soul, whichever way you want to put it) Thats too important to have the potential for someone else to be renting it.

@OP: Duty and honor; i've never gone back on either one.

My friends, my loyalty to them and their importance to me.

And as much as they can piss me off and drive me around the bend like no one else — no, I can't think of anything I'd give them up for because I can't think of anything I want more than them.

And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)

This is a bit of a difficult question to answer. It may sound like a bit of a cliche, but I'd say that I would hold inviolable the interests of Humanity as a whole. No consideration of money, ethics or nation could possibly hope to sway me from my task if it was in good service to the Human race. it's a bit vague I'll admit but I leave you to figure out just what it means.

edited 27th Jul '11 6:45:01 AM by Gault

yey

I'd say the one thing I'd refuse to sell except under the most dire of circumstances is my belief in Art and Music and Theatre being the best of what society has created and offers to the universe.

I'm still eating meat given no other choice because one of my housemates is a total carnivore and I don't want to make mealtimes that much of a pain for my family. Not even joking. They haven't even caught on that I'm trying to cut out the meat, despite the fact that I haven't cooked a meal with meat in it for months.

But as for beliefs that have been with me all my life... I've never sold out my prudery, and I've never sold out my belief in civil liberties, but I did find myself arguing in favor of Bush's dumb-ass spending because hey, at least he's doing less of it than the Democrats are. (...Which turned out to be questionable even at that, until Obama.)

Hail Martin Septim!

Another thing to consider is whether question involves action or inaction. Making this one betray her values by action is...well, actually quite easy, but would probably not involve "selling". It would involve confusion ad/or coercion. But inaction that technically goes against one's values - now that is easy. This one is already doing that, as she is currently hanging in the net and chatting instead of acting upon her values.

If we disagree, that much, at least, we have in common

I would never kill or seriously hurt someone for selfish reasons. Put my family at gunpoint... tough call.

I'm not sure what is more evil, caving in and killing people for your own selfish emotional attachments, or letting your family die trying to stop them. Guess it depends on the number of people...

...I don't want to think about this. I love my family, and the idea of having to make that kind of rationalisation disquietens me. Yet its important to think about as people have been put in that position before... and most of them chose family.

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.