No reward for being a good person

NOT123

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  1. Vegan
So here I am at the point where being a good person is actually wasting my time & I'm also annoyed about the person who turned me into vegan all those years ago even though I wouldn't turn back.
Nowadays I can see people I know on Facebook (none of them are vegans because no other vegans have ever bothered to make friends with me despite me trying). Of the people I know some of them insulted me for being a vegan, others I can see the partners they've stolen from each other, they've all been busy having lots of kids, I can see their great lives, nice cars, smiling in every picture & grand houses they live in from the ill gotten gains of their jobs usually as insurance salespeople or others doing incredibly well from producing or talking utter garbage & they know it.
No matter how much you could try to convince me that I took the right or wrong path it seems that good people know exactly what you need but are still biased, cowardly, tight & untrusting where as not so good people are irresponsible & able to easily team up to get whatever it is they want whether it does them good or not. I know some fool would say stick with it but I've heard that all my life and now I'm in a better position to say to them that its more stupidity than wisdom and they shouldn't go about making false promises to everyone.
So if you cant get what you need ~I could be getting rich swindling old ladies for insurance they don't need that wont even pay out -or on the other hand the "good guys" (& girls) never paid off either when it came to the crunch.
Looking at it in retrospective I would find it a whole different decision if I went back in time.
 
Hi NOT123,

I'm going to disagree with you. There is, in fact, a reward for being a good person... you get to live for as long as you want... even forever if you want to. And you don't have to grow old. If you survey this philosophy forum, you'll find there are only nine postings. I've written one entitled "You are god"; which lays down a logical framework for actual, physical immortality.

Here is a direct link if you don't feel like hitting the "back" button:

https://veganforum.org/threads/you-are-god.1384/

My apologies, it's somewhat of a long read and I have a very dry writing style; but you might appreciate some of it's insights.

Best Regards,
Your Construct
 
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Life is what you make of it. Being a good person is being good to yourself. It doesn't matter if other people don't appreciate it. Sounds like the people you are talking about could just like being miserable to people and that's no way to go about life. Surround yourself with positive people. Look up some vegan get togethers around you or set up your own if you can. Try making friends online. I'm sure there are websites to make friends just like there are dating sites.

Being rich and having everything you want does not equal happiness. Happiness comes from what you make of your life.
 
So you two can make heads or tails out this tedious rambling screed? I am impressed. :neutral:
 
Personally I don't get a buzz from upsetting people. I don't feel diminished by other people's perceived successes. I don't want to be anyone but me. Scratch under the surface and I think we are all about equal in happiness and sadness. It's easy to assume that people who look happy are happy, sometimes it's just a facade. Live your life how you want to, if you are not your idea of a good person then don't try and be one if it makes you unhappy. Try and get a copy of Richard Bach's Illusions, that explains it all perfectly, especially the bit with the 'vampire'. :)
 
There isn't much reward for being a good person in general, or if there is it might not be worth the sacrifice, that is probably true, at least in many cases. So I agree.

However if you are being a good person in order to get a reward, are you really a good person, or do you want a reward? I am trying to think of ways to be a better person in recent years - perhaps we all should - I am not looking for any reward.

I am not sure if it is a reward but the swindlers and cheaters may in reality be less happy within themselves especially in later life, while the good ones will have a more content retirement (not always certainly but I think odds are).

And those smiling couples? Half of them are probably not truly happy, even if they smile in every photo. Most people probably have self esteem or depression or relationship issues to a greater or lesser extent at some point in their life. It's just that at times if feels like it's only you. It isn't.
 
The reward for being a good person is inner peace. A bad person can make a lot of money and put pictures of his big house, big car, and expensive vacation on his Facebook page, but he will not be able to sleep at night as well as a good person does (unless the bad person is a sociopath, in which case he will feel no remorse but will find himself increasingly isolated as he gets older). His relationships will also not be as happy as those of the good person, since most people know when they're being used. As a result, the good person will live a much happier life than the bad person. Being good is its own reward.
 
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Catholics and many other Christians believe that we are not punished for sin, but by sin. By that Catholics in particular are referring to natural law - it is very difficult to avoid consequences of bad choices, even for the rich and powerful, I've read articles that state how miserable and annoyed Donald Trump actually is, he's not a happy person for all of his wealth and power, some of his own cabinet have said he's unhappy being president.

That is not to say that people are punished immediately by the choices they make, but rather that there tend to be long-term consequences to habitual bad choices i.e. swindling old ladies for insurance money, stealing cars, or just being a nasty self-absorbed person. Societal consequences may show up as jail time or fines, personal consequences may show up as troubled relationships or a sudden shocking loss of ill-gotten gains, or spiritual/emotional consequences like being continually miserable or grouchy, constantly feeling like something is "missing" or feeling guilty for eating animals....I mean, wouldn't you feel guilt or discomfort eating an animal?

But even more so than the natural consequences of sin, which may be slow in coming, the blessing of being a good person or making good choices are nearly immediate: inner peace, joy, spiritual freedom, hope, faith and love.
 
If the reason you went vegan was to be a good person in the eyes of others, that's a really silly reason and your disappointment was a certain outcome. The opinion on yourself matters a thousand times more than the opinions of others, and you are most assuredly in better physical health for making that decision.