The Pain of Achieving the Good Life - 865 Words

The cost of the good life is personal as displayed in Akira Kurosawas Village of the Watermills, Martin Luther Kings Letter from a Birmingham jail, and Dr. Colburns common lecture Rosewood. The cost of the good life is the sacrifice of some sense of security with each personal choice we make and each action we take to acquire the good life. It seems that in America we are blessed with continuously evolving innovation that provides us with so many conveniences. However, it is these conveniences that deter us from the good life by clouding our sense of purpose in life. Once we discover the power of money, many of our goals and purposes in life are driven by the desire to attain money in an attempt to live a luxurious lifestyle. In†¦show more content†¦In this case, our sense of security is concentrated in our conveniences. Detaching ourselves from so many of our conveniences and desires by choosing to live a simpler and more natural life threatens our security of familiarit y, but it is a cost for living a good life. We need to look at ourselves as individuals but also recognize ourselves as a part of something larger. Being a part of society gives us a moral responsibility to help others in need. Responsibilities come with effort and action. The trade-off for choosing to take action is giving up idleness. Injustice is everywhere but little is done because many people arent affected directly and many of those who are arent taking action to address the issue. In the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther king mentions that, whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. This is true as long as humanity possesses any sense of empathy that allows one to feel anothers pain. Suffering of one will perpetuate to others until it is eliminated because suffering does not end with time; it ends with direct action. In his letter, King emphasizes nonviolent direct action because violence is injustice itself and will only stimulate more violence. T he purpose of Kings letter was to emphasize the impossibility of obtaining any justice with taking action and acting immediately and directly. If we want to see change we cant be afraid toShow MoreRelatedThe Nature of Death Essay1508 Words   |  7 Pagesnature of death and its impact on the human psyche. Accepting these philosophies requires an inherent selfishness that cannot possibly lead to achieving a tranquil and essentially good life. Epicurus argues all good and bad things derive from a sensation of pleasure or pain. He advocated the absence of pain and the attainment of a happy, tranquil life. Achieving this state of mind includes expelling the fear of death, which he attempted to philosophically refute. 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