Intrepid

Myriad Reality

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*Clenches my hand, causing an audible buzz*

@Techspert

It’s okay to calm down, now. I’m done.

Myriad Reality

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Look dude, there's a scale problem here. Existence is literally gagillion-ginormous and it's bad enough dealing with just the problems we encounter. It's not our job to go become a disaster relief team; if that's your passion, that's super awesome—go and do it without being a bad guy.
*Electricity arcs across my fingers*
I'm not equipped to do that. At best I could give them a better electric grid, and that's not even funny to imagine. Same with a lot of my friends. But you want to talk about people who make exactly the kind of difference you're looking for? Ask PD, or maybe Martin. Just because we help in different ways doesn't mean that we're lesser or don't help. Humanities is a totally different science and you're blaming the solution for not fixing an unrelated problem that was there to begin with.

@Techspert

*Puts my hands in my pockets and looks out the window*

Myriad Reality

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By that logic, everyone should give away everything they have to the poor. Not a bad solution if we're being real, but again, the natural inclination to be evil destroys that premise. Every person would have to be an equally benevolent giver, and every receiver would have to be entirely legitimate. Instead, there's corruption on both sides. How about you become the change you want to see instead of harping on people who actually do make a difference. I'm not even a "professional 'hero;'" I'm an engineer and Tier Five member who happens to be really good at beating up bad guys.

@Techspert

What do you think I do? I’m not just a man who preaches this to people and then goes home to enjoy myself for the rest of my existence, satisfied to continue with my luxury knowing I told someone something? I don’t want to harp on you for not doing the things I say, but too many people do what you do, and there are not enough people doing what I do. That’s why it was actually thrilling to have friends who wanted the same thing, until they were all torn from me by the same people which I frequently find myself against. You think I don’t make a difference? Maybe that’s true. I feel that way too when I’m doing everything alone. But I make attempts, and I will continue to do so as long as I breathe.

Myriad Reality

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Are you one of those guys who's like "Let's kill everyone because then the total number of people suffering will actually be lower because nobody else can be born!"? Because if not, until you figure out how to solve everyone's natural badness, your issues are problems with no resolution. Every system is broken because all of us are broken, not because there's some magic silver bullet that we don't choose to load out of our own corruption.

@Techspert

No, far from it. I don’t exactly kill people regularly. But you want to know how you make the difference? You take yourself, and you fill as much of that hole as you can. It doesn’t fix everything, because not enough people want to fill the hole. But it makes enough of a difference to be worth.

Myriad Reality

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Many societies have public safety nets for those who have no ability to care for themselves. You also have charities and things like that. For us, stopping bad guys is often on a planetary or universal level, whereas people starving is on an individual level. You can also ruin societies by getting involved like that because you can push them off of an internal equilibrium. If you become the provider for everyone, then if you die, everybody starves. You'll also probably end up a dictator. Living creatures are naturally corrupt and evil and no amount of good any of us do will ever change that. So we do what good we can and let people who can do more do what they do best.

@Techspert

You can’t just leave broken systems to their devices. So many people suffer that way. Too many to ignore, and certainly a number comparable to the number of people threatened by those you fight. It in itself is one of the biggest threats anyone could try to face.

Myriad Reality

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That's not their job, role, or responsibility. That's like asking a police officer to also provide medical care and then food after helping someone. The whole reason we have societies is because we have specialization, where people do what they do best and exchange their services to increase the quality of life for everyone. And that's when it's their job, let alone a random guy on the street. Do you think he has a responsibility to visit and care for a killer's family? What about his own family? That man never asked to be there or to deal with that, but when he does the right thing, you decide that he all of a sudden has to bear the weight of the crimes of the killer, or of society when it is too corrupt to do anything.

@Techspert

It sounds to me like you see the problem I do. If it’s not the man’s responsibility, or the police officer’s, then who? There is absolutely no one placed in charge of this particular kind of saving. And the lack of concern everyone has for it is the appaling part. Most societies never implement one. And that means that a job of helping the people is only ever half done. That is the part that gets me. Heroes don’t do it. Cops don’t do it. Not lawyers or politicians or volunteers.
*Shakes my head*
And why do they deserve the saving less than the people who actually are?

Myriad Reality

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If you kill someone to save the life of another, there's not going to be time to figure out the impact because someone is going to die. Even if you could, what are you going to decide? "Oh, because this might hurt people he knows, I'm not going to save this person's life?" What about others he's going to hurt? And who said anything about glory? Do you think there's glamour in any of this? In almost every instance, the one who saves is given absolutely no credit or thanks.

@Techspert

That’s not what it’s about. It’s about helping people. When you save people, you help them. But why does it end there? It most certainly should not change a person’s decision to make the call in the moment, but you’d better believe that the only people who need saving aren’t the ones at the lethal end of a weapon.

Myriad Reality

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Yeah, I do. You brought up a good point: If she starves because she's lazy, that's on her. If she starves because society is too corrupt to help her, that's on society. If she dies because the loan sharks come by and she can't pay her debt, that's on them. One guy did the right thing, and yes, someone suffered as an indirect result, but the weight is always on the real cause of the pain, not the catalyst. That'd be just like saying "I'm going to shoot you next time someone walks across this sidewalk" and then getting mad at the person walking across the sidewalk instead of the guy shooting someone.

@Techspert

We’re getting closer to an understanding. I feel there is a weight of responsibility on every shoulder here. Being a person to take such a big and influential action of that kind carries with it a weight and a responsibility. I’m concerned for the mental state of the man who shoots another who is doing something threatening, then takes the glory and walks. Not even having a concern for the people who knew that man, and whether or not they can continue to exist or function as people... It’s genuinely surprising that such thoughts never occur to people. The biggest victims of all are those who lose.

Myriad Reality

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Say she had a bad arm, then. Couldn't hold a job. No matter where you transfer the blame, it's not going to end up on the guy who saved the dude's life. Not only is it not his responsibility, but he just did what was right given the circumstances. Transaction over.

@Techspert

And you don’t see something wrong with these people just being left to rot?

Myriad Reality

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So was the guy's wife.

@Techspert

I’m not talking lazy here.