I am Wasteful, 6-25-2010

 This comes from The Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV, Chapter 1:

For the wasteful person is meant to have the sincle vicious feature of ruining his property; for someone who causes his own destruction {'lays waste' to himself, and so} is wasteful....

 I set out to destroy myself. I found a short respite for a very short while in marriage. Then, disgusted with myself, I redoubled my efforts at self-destruction. I was not good to my wife.

I cannot help notice how the following might apply to those Wall Streeters who came close to ruining the economy:

... This is why their ways of giving are not generous either, since they are not fine, do not aim at the fine, and are not done in the right way. Rather, these people sometimes enrich people who ought to be poor, and would give nothing to people with sound characters, but would give much to flatterers, or to those providing some other pleasures. That is why most of these people are intemperate. For since they part with moeny readily, they also spend it lavishly on intemperance; and because their lives do not aim at the fine, they declien towards please. The Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV, Chapter 1 §35

I do not read Aristotle teaching a selfishness in the vein of Ayn Rand. I see more resemblance to Christ's teachings on charity. 

... For what is generous does not depend on the quanity of what is given, but on the state {of character} of the giver, and the generous state gives in accord with one's means. Hence one who gives less than another may still be mroe generous, if he has less to give.  The Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV, Chapter 1 §19

I find parallels between Aristotle's generosity and our Judeo-Christian virtue of charity. I find some points that ought to make American Christians blush when they balk at welfare for our poorer citizens. The generous person benefits society.

(I find more conflict with Aristotle's magnificence and Christianity's humility.)

sch

[I am left to address what my 2010 self omitted. I did not aim for the fine, I did not believe that there was anything fine about existence or humanity. I should have said this, and I did not, deciding to zig over to Wall Streeters. It is like I lost concentration and the point. I was generous to those who should have received any money. I did this because it was an escape from life, because I was playing a tourist into the grimy and down-and-out. My thinking - or lack thereof - was defective, and now I am working on a different way of thinking.  I do see now there can be fine things about life and people and even myself. Aristotle was one of the people pointing me towards the means of affirming life over self-destruction. He does not teach an easy way to live. The way out leads towards despondency and apathy and self-destruction.  sch 12/19/22]