If I were given the liberty to decide human beings into two categories, I would have people who always have higher goals to attain and those who can be easily satisfied. It is true that many people may comfortablely reside in the middle of somewhere between these two types, let's say, those who are not satisfied with their current situations but lack the motivation or ability to pursue a higher goal. Ancient Chinese culture preaches that people stay satisfied with their current situations. How come? Some Chinese ideologists may "presage" you that unsatisfaction leads to restlessness which may cause big troubles. Today, let's look at who is behind those ideologists. Bingo! You got it! It is feudalism. Of course the ancient royal families wanted the ordinary people to keep self-satisfied and never demand more. Unfortunately, a vast majority didn't realize this soon enough... It is too late. Being good at self-satisfaction has already melt into Chinese culture. The same is true in other cultures as well. A great number of people in various cultures feel there is no need to achieve more after a certain goal is attained.
Certainly, the other type of people exist in the world. Unfortunately, many of them fell or are falling into another trap: keep constantly unsatisfied with their current situations. In other words, the higher goal leads them into greed. This type of people never know where the limit is, which patheticly makes them constantly unhappy.
I don't intend to discuss about greedy people here. I am more interested in those people who always know their next steps and are aware of their limits even if an attainable goal is not morphed yet. They keep going! They have positive views of where they are and where they are going. They are always alive and high-spirited. They are never dull and boring. Being with these people, you can always be inspired how to set up your life goal and whether you are ready to step on the next steppingstone. Of course, this type of people never intend to achieve his or her own goal by sacrficing other people's benefits. Because they know how to achieve their goals in a smart way...
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If I had the liberty, the dominant libertarian instinct in me would ask me to give the liberty back to everyone so that they will label whatever they see fit and choose whatever path they enjoy, be it ambitious, greedy, or lazy. The utilitarian in me would take a different approach: let’s divide human beings into two groups, a smart-and-motivated group and a dumb-and-lazy one. The former will get to where they aspire and the latter will stay happy too, as the result the social welfare is maximized. But that would upset the moralist in me: it would want to take an opposite approach that we have a smart-and-lazy group and a dumb-and-motivated one, and a more egalitarian situation would ensure due to the wash of smarts and efforts.
Luckly we don't have the liberty and we get to enjoy all the diversities.
oops! it seems I've stirred some rumbling:-p Of course, the goal could be mighty or tiny, depending on individuals. The key is you have goals.
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