This is how I see it: the only reliable / stable model in which our civilization has a chance is the one in which everyone auto-regulates himself. In other words everyone must take responsibility over one's life.
You start with yourself. Make yourself resourceful, healthy, etc. Then you can have a solid chance to do something for others. The other way around - immersing oneself in helping others combined with sacrificing yourself is a big pathology. Ayn Rand has been writing about that her whole life. Besides, it's easy to do virtue signaling coming down to presenting oneself as an altruist. Building a life that works and has meaning is much harder. Don't go the easy route.
Whether you opt out or join doesn't matter. What matters is if at the end of your existence you can look at yourself with peace in mind. Start with small things. That's not a shame at all!
We're not in a complete control of reality, but every one of us with sufficient effort can master his own life. This is how we can produce something that's bigger than the sum of its parts. So, the starting point is very simple: contribute to stuff that matters, refuse to cooperate on harmful enterprises. Neither of them has the "ignore" part in it. Only ignore those things that don't matter.
You start with yourself. Make yourself resourceful, healthy, etc. Then you can have a solid chance to do something for others. The other way around - immersing oneself in helping others combined with sacrificing yourself is a big pathology. Ayn Rand has been writing about that her whole life. Besides, it's easy to do virtue signaling coming down to presenting oneself as an altruist. Building a life that works and has meaning is much harder. Don't go the easy route.
Whether you opt out or join doesn't matter. What matters is if at the end of your existence you can look at yourself with peace in mind. Start with small things. That's not a shame at all!
We're not in a complete control of reality, but every one of us with sufficient effort can master his own life. This is how we can produce something that's bigger than the sum of its parts. So, the starting point is very simple: contribute to stuff that matters, refuse to cooperate on harmful enterprises. Neither of them has the "ignore" part in it. Only ignore those things that don't matter.