I have no sense of duty...

Great topic I just love your words and style im exactly the same i'd fight to protect my home and i feel like im duty bound to nobody

Originally posted by chillpill

I will say that although I dont feel a sense of duty, I do have a strong sense of 'service' to others and wish to be useful and valuable. I am always seeking to be of service.

I think that theres nothing wrong with your sense of duty friend,thats all thats required.

reply to post by chillpill


i too am what you call a loner and im perfectly happy to just let close minded people go on with their daily lives and live in ignorance and im even happier to spend my days contemplating nothiing

I hate the term "duty". I was taught from the very beginning the well-being of everybody around me is my duty. Hate duty absolutely. Why can't I just help people because I want to...why does it have to be MY DUTY????

Oh..and don't even get me started on the so-called "society" we live in.....sorry for all the hate, my friends.

reply to post by chillpill

What do you feel you have a duty to?

Myself.

Do you feel a duty to your fellow humans?

None whatsoever.

What I do for others I do because I choose to. Not because of some sense of obligation.

Is duty important for a structured society?

I would say that it is not possible for anyone to be bound by any obligation other than those they choose for themselves.

Think about that.

Is it possible for another person to obligate you to do anything? I say no. As such...ideas such as "duty to country" "duty to family" duty to...whomever , cease to have meaning. To me, the idea that I am obligated to perform for anyone, be they family, country, another person, an ideal, anything...it seems abhorant to me.

I act by choice. I may choose to act for the benefit of an other, but I am never obligated to.

Is duty important for a structured society?

No. Not at all. If people wish to have structure, they are free to choose structure without being manipulated into it.

reply to post by HappilyEverAfter

my definition of duty is doing what directly needs done

But to me...nothing "needs" to be done. There is only choice. I don't even need to feed myself. If I choose to not eat, I am fully capable of starving myself to death. No necessity is involved.

What is this "need" of which you speak?

What is there that could possibly "need" doing?

There is only choice.

One of my least favorite duties,
asking the spandex painted half of beef beast
"if she would either please stop beating her kids or at least stop having them.

But this is simply something you choose to do. Why do you think of it an an obligation?

reply to post by Carlthulhu

If you, and your friends (co-workers) follow a code, you can trust in each other.

Why place more faith in an external code than the choice of the people involved? Who would you feel safer with? The person who is loyal to you because they feel obligated to be...or the person who is loyal because they want to be?

Duty, a sense of duty - Translation - you need to OBEY your masters.

Screw that. I'll help a child, an old lady, a guy that is having it hard - my duty is to live a life where I can look back and think that the world is better because I was there but killing people for some rich bastard will never be something that I call duty anymore. Yes, I am a Veteran.

I am out for my own well being...but I also have no purpose to hurt others in that process, and will always take the path that involves the betterment of others.

Everyone in this world is out for some sort of prestige, but what makes us all different is in how we acquire such.

For some people, obtaining that prestige can mean very negative things...Hitler for example.

Originally posted by factbeforefiction
Duty, a sense of duty - Translation - you need to OBEY your masters.

Screw that. I'll help a child, an old lady, a guy that is having it hard - my duty is to live a life where I can look back and think that the world is better because I was there but killing people for some rich bastard will never be something that I call duty anymore. Yes, I am a Veteran.

that was truly beautifully said mate and you are a veteran that makes it even more touching good stuff

reply to post by chillpill


For me, I think I am at such a disadvantage. Let's face it...we aren't born equal. For those families with money, life is a lot different than those without and for those with different upbringings.

I consider myself a largely honest person trying to get by in a ocean of lies and deceit. I do not seem so compatible with this system at large, and it seems if I were, I'd have to play on its terms - lie.

Aside from this, I have been dealt a tough hand. I won't complain any more than it seems I already have, but we are not all born equal - as I've said.

I'm good at some things, but a fantastic resume is something I don't have. After high school, I kind of went downhill. (I did great in high school, but going great there didn't mean college would be easy.) So, I ended up dropping out of college during a period of time some craziness happened and I was subsequently hospitalized against my will.

Working in today's industries means you basically surrender your time into a dead-end job. It's worse if you go to school, for most people, because you can't default on student loan debt. This system is set up to enslave people it seems; to put them in debt and force them to work their entire lives and hope they have a decent life.

I don't try very hard because in the past it has not paid off well. Besides, stress tends to greatly aggravate my conditions and is best avoided. I do side jobs and web design in my spare time to the extent it doesn't cause trouble. I definitely have a horrible success rate with the typical nine-to-five, and sorry, but I'm not the type to enjoy working under high stress for low pay with the chance in a million to make it to a point where I am lucky enough to maybe...maybe make it to a place where I get paid more under better conditions. Call my cynical or pessimistic, but there's something not right about the world today when it seems you have to cheat and steal to get ahead...oh I left out lie.

Originally posted by glitchinmymatrix
reply to post by chillpill

 

For me, I think I am at such a disadvantage. Let's face it...we aren't born equal. For those families with money, life is a lot different than those without and for those with different upbringings.

I consider myself a largely honest person trying to get by in a ocean of lies and deceit. I do not seem so compatible with this system at large, and it seems if I were, I'd have to play on its terms - lie.

Aside from this, I have been dealt a tough hand. I won't complain any more than it seems I already have, but we are not all born equal - as I've said.

I'm good at some things, but a fantastic resume is something I don't have. After high school, I kind of went downhill. (I did great in high school, but going great there didn't mean college would be easy.) So, I ended up dropping out of college during a period of time some craziness happened and I was subsequently hospitalized against my will.

Working in today's industries means you basically surrender your time into a dead-end job. It's worse if you go to school, for most people, because you can't default on student loan debt. This system is set up to enslave people it seems; to put them in debt and force them to work their entire lives and hope they have a decent life.

I don't try very hard because in the past it has not paid off well. Besides, stress tends to greatly aggravate my conditions and is best avoided. I do side jobs and web design in my spare time to the extent it doesn't cause trouble. I definitely have a horrible success rate with the typical nine-to-five, and sorry, but I'm not the type to enjoy working under high stress for low pay with the chance in a million to make it to a point where I am lucky enough to maybe...maybe make it to a place where I get paid more under better conditions. Call my cynical or pessimistic, but there's something not right about the world today when it seems you have to cheat and steal to get ahead...oh I left out lie.

Why are you so down on yourself...? Looked at your youtube page...you come across absolutely great!

What's your view on duty and service?

reply to post by deadlysponge

if this is truly the OP's sentiment toward modern day civilization, then there isnt much one can say, but society owes him/her nothing.

I think you've misunderstood the OPs intent

ironically, if 9 out 10 people shared that same sentiment, then civilization would have collapsed long ago.

9 out of 10? :-)

we're only asking questions here - about why we do or don't feel a sense of duty - or even - what is this sense of duty?

civilization won't collapse because we wonder about what goes into creating and maintaining a civilization

there is really no point in making this sound like an intelligent argument.

it's not an argument

from the OP:

How many of you are dutybound? How many of you feel of service? How many of you are completely free of the pressure to conform to what society would view as the 'rules'?

Is duty important for a structured society?

Come on ATSers...are we mainly a forum of 'rulebreakers', or are we outwardly mainly conformists who use ATS as a virtual outlet for our non-conformist ideas.

What do you feel you have a duty to? Do you feel a duty to your fellow humans?

I wonder about why the question bothers you - no one is looking to pick a fight

and I don't believe I took taking anything out of context

:-)

I never really felt a sense of duty until I had a child.

It is absolutely my duty to care for and raise this little person I created in the best way I can. To do what is necessary to provide for him and make his childhood the best it can be.

But even that is a choice, I made the choice to bring him into this world and I choose to be as good of a parent as I can. Plenty of parents choose to not care for their children to the best of their ability.

I also feel a sense of duty to my husband and family, but not in the same way I do to my child.

I choose to work hard when I am at my job, not because it is my duty but rather because its the best way to get ahead.

I don't have a great job right now, but it is the only one I have so I might as well make the best of it.

Now that I think about it I also feel a sense of duty to my dogs, they can not provide for themselves and I have chosen to take them on as a responsibility. So it is my duty to love them, treat them fairly seek medical care when needed and make sure their needs for food water shelter and physical and/or mental stimulation are all met.

So I guess I feel a sense of duty to those responsibilities in my life that I have willingly chosen to take on.


[edit on 1-12-2009 by gluetrap]

I have been thinking about joy, duty, fulfillment and service today.

I have been reading a lot of posts and have enjoyed them all greatly. One thing that stands out is that many people seem to think the rejection of duty is selfishness in itself. When actually, I don't believe it is.

For me, service is about choosing to put others' needs above your own, because you want to. You want to be of service. You want to do good. You want to feel joy by being of 'service' to others.

I did a bit of digging around the internet and came up with an interesting (if not slightly cloying) take on cultivating fulfillment through service.

The idea is that if you cultivate an attitude of serving others and assume a serving frame of mind, it is less likely you will feel needy, despairing or dependent upon outer, material circumstances for your well-being and happiness. Giving - according to this paradigm - gives you freedom.

"Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness"
Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves."

"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
Martin Luther King, jr.

So is service as the driving motivation behind actions just a romantic notion that's unachievable by the majority...or is duty the easy to follow concept that we choose to adopt because we dont have to think about it?

I look after my dogs, not through duty...but because I love them. They are a responsibility but I love them.

I smile and do my best for clients...as I wish to do a good job and be of service.

I am not perfect...but I am seeking to understand what I need to do to be a better person. My take is that by underpinning my actions with a focus on service can teach me more than acting out of duty.

Be interested in your thoughts.

reply to post by LordBucket

Why place more faith in an external code than the choice of the people involved? Who would you feel safer with? The person who is loyal to you because they feel obligated to be...or the person who is loyal because they want to be?

If I feel a sense of loyalty to somebody, i choose to include them into my obligations. I don't automatically have to do it, I want to, because it feels right.
They don't have to live up to the same standards. (and I have worked with plenty that haven't) It's just good to know that you can rely on somebody. Even if it's just to complete some menial task.

Did that answer your question?