I believe that both happiness and respect are very important things to have in life, but if I had to choose between the two I would choose happiness. A person can all the respect for himself/herself and all the respect they can get from everyone, but that doesn’t mean that all that respect will make them truly happy. If everyone is happy with themselves then there would be no reason fights to start over anything. Through happiness we can achieve true peace in the world, something like the ideal respect can never achieve.
I just see more benefits and more positive things coming from the idea of happiness than the idea of respect. Happiness is not only good for those around you but it is also good for yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually. Being happy and reflecting that happiness will do wonders for your health and you will also probably live longer as well. People tend to respect those who are happy as well and who treat them nicely. If everyone is happy then everyone is respectful of one another.
I believe that to be able to achieve true happiness in our nation we must allow those to be able to pursue their happiness. The one thing that I find most hypocritical about our great nation of America is that homosexuals can not marry in most of the nation, if not all of it already. One of the very ideals which were one of the foundations of our nation cannot be fully achieved due to this current big issue. Until this issue is resolved then we are not all truly equal as Americans I believe since not all of use can achieve our true happiness.
Hi Ryan, I totally agree with in saying that happiness and respect are very important, their qualities almost go hand in hand. Nothing makes me happier when I know someone respects me and wants to know what and how I am thinking. That is what I mean when I say happiness and respect goes hand and hand. If people respected each other then there would not be any fights either. It is a hard choice to make, but in the long run I agree with you, I think I would chose happiness over respect too. This topic was actually a debate we had in philosophy class. It is interesting to imagine life different, isn’t? What if there was no crime, hatred, pain and everyone was happy? What if we could live in a world like that?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I believe with you on the homosexual marriage part. I don’t really have a solid opinion on that issue. I do think that if that is what they chose or that is how they are naturally then they should be punished by society. I was raised in a Christian home so my thought is that a marriage should consist of man and women. I do believe homosexuals are entitled to true happiness, but principle of marriage should be the way it has always been. I know you are saying, “Hypocrite” to me as you are reading this, and you are probably right to some degree.
I wrote on the same topic but chose self-respect but I didn’t take into account that it may not lead to actual happiness, you bring up an excellent point about this. I said that high respect for oneself can guide them to happiness but who knows, it might not. I also didn’t think of the effect true happiness for everyone could have on the world. Going into the various positive effects of happiness over respect makes me feel like reconsidering the decision I have previously stated. Besides, being truly happy could even lead to the possibility of having high self-respect.
ReplyDeleteAs Lisa stated, I too don’t know how I feel about same sex marriage, but I do feel that people have the right to do what they want to be happy. Happiness should be a right not a privilege, and being in a country that says it’s a constitutional right to pursue happiness, I do see the hypocrisy that the U.S. is involved with. Overall I do see how happiness is/can be better than self-respect, and I do feel that everyone is entitled to it and how terrible it is when people are denied it.
I agree with you to an extent. I chose the same prompt but I did not choose happiness I chose Self-respect. I feel like if you do not respect yourself you cannot ever be truly happy. I think that self-respect leads to true happiness. On your point I do believe that I am in a situation where I am caught up with the respect that I have for myself that I am not happy. I do not feel happy and my mental, physical, and emotional health is low. I do keep telling myself that if I keep up my self-respect that one day I will be truly happy. Keep in mind that I have been saying this for two years and have yet to find that day. So maybe you are right. Maybe Happiness is more important. But for now I am going to stick by my belief that Self-respect is the way to go and hope that happiness is in the future. I do agree with your idea on the homosexuals. I personally do not believe in it but I also do not believe in pushing my beliefs down someone's throat. If it is that that makes them happy then who are we to stop them? I think that they should be allowed the equal pursuit of happiness that everyone else has.
ReplyDelete