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RE: Does Kindness Make a Person a "Magnet" for the Users and Abusers of Life?
Yes, there are personality types that will take advantage in every way they can with none of the hesitation that would normally be present, and for these "chronically nice" people, all of the service adn altruism is like throwing buckets of water into the Grand Canyon.
I think even in modern days, we need our "tribe." If one has some friends that know your weak spots and don't have those particular weak spots, then they can tell the "nice" person when they are being taken advantage of.
It's definitely good to have friends who are willing to look out for you... and are willing to authentically point out when you are letting yourself get used by someone unscrupulous.
I guess I mean it in a "wisdom of the crowd" sort of sense. My hypothetical friend, who is a cynic about human nature 100% of the time, will be wrong sometimes. If I am optimistic 100% of the time, then there are times when I will really need his outlook.
We might butt heads sometimes, but we can definitely improve each other's lives. Easier said than done, right? Finding the kinds of friends where we can complement each other and have room to seriously disagree without some huge impact on the friendship is not a trivial task.
I feel blessed to have such people in my life.
But now going far afield of the original discussion... This is why I distrust the archetype of the self-made man and the modern prepper types who are preparing to do it all alone.
Since we were cavemen, human survival has used cooperative strategies where people of different but complementary skillsets improved the overall survival chances of everyone around them.
The prepper is preparing for some "survive alone" situation that has rarely worked in human history. The self-made man is basically forgetting the work of all the "plebes" that made it possible. Neither of these points is meant to diminish either the idea of autonomy nor the entrepreneurial merits of the "self-made man!"
Okay... Apologies... Rant finished! ;-p