Meaningful and enjoyable?

I have found having your life to be meaningful and having it be enjoyable can be two different things. Sometimes, it is possible to have both.

What makes life meaningful for you?

No road home

Tonight, I could not sleep.

Some time ago, in a discussion, somebody mentioned that if the Republic survives the coming war, some - perhaps many - of us might not be welcome home anymore.

What we do now might be necessary for the survival and wellbeing of our kin. Or at least we would like to think so.

However, there are things civilized societies need to condemn, in order to stay civilized.

There might be no road home. No hero's welcome. We might be war criminals, a liability, or worse.

Am I being odd, if I find that thought comforting?

On blowing up

Carelessness kills.

The feeling of losing a ship is never pleasant. Yet, there is something liberating in knowing it is just me and my wallet getting hurt when I screw up.

"I already have a boyfriend"

Some girls, especially ones from patriarchal clans seem to use "I already have a boyfriend" as an explanation of why they are not interested in a guy.

Sometimes, it means literally that: They might be interested if they were single, but since they already have a boyfriend switching would be too much bother.

And sometimes, it is just a convenient excuse, a way to avoid having to say "no" to a man you're not interested in.

Is using it in the last way lazy and dishonest, or is it a nice way of avoiding awkward confrontations by a white lie you know the other party is likely to swallow? Do men feel insulted if they are used as an excuse that way?

Marriages and divorces

Sometimes, marriages do not work out.

I wonder how the clanless manage divorces, with no proper marriage contract and no clan to look after their interests. With difficulty, I imagine.

Not that having a contract makes the situation easy, either.

Moral relativity and justifications

There are people who believe morality is relative, that there is no absolute right and wrong.

I find using such arguments to be weird when one is choosing the right thing to do. Especially in the context of justifying actions they or others should take.

If all morality is relative, and so all viewpoints are objectively equally valid, what is wrong with simply just using yours?

Terrorists and tradeoffs

From IGS: Press release about Du'uma Fiisi re-education program survivality rates.

Where is the line between terrorists and traitors? Does one measure success by results - lives gained and lives lost? By objectives? By intentions?

If Du'uma Fiisi had not done what they did, 650 000 less of our kin would be free.
If Du'uma Fiisi had not done what they did, 350 000 less of our kin would be dead.

Will those people who think it is better to die free than live a slave consider that a good exchange?