Yet I think a more pressing issue is that this administration is spending like crazy, trying to stimulate things when there is rampant inflation going on — ssu

Well, yes here is another big problem. Apart from being immature it turns out that she is not even a good representative. Everything is connected with this debate. If she had any sense of basic responsibility she would be a better PM.
But the footage shows what she really is: incompatible for her charge.
"Dancing" and "partying" while the rampant inflation goes on :yikes:
What triggers me the most is the fact that these politicians do not resign. They still remain in the power looking like if nothing happened at all.

Can anybody notice a trend here from the pictures? — ssu

You are right! There is clearly a trend in selecting beautiful women.

Maybe I have be a bit "brainwashed" by western media, but I kind of find it hard to imagine Xi Jinping as a kind of nice/benevolent leader when he is constantly making threats at any and all countries who are not willing to any and all things he wants them to do. It is one thing to bully your own people around, it is another when you think it is "ok" to bully people who are not citizens of your own country. — dclements

It is a very complex context. To answer your opinion we have to understand Chinese history previously. Just as a brief reminder of how the Western world disrespected China and Chinese culture during XIX century and between 1900 - 1930. That dishonour still remains in the conciousness of CCP because they see their fight against the West as an act of empowering Chinese traditions and integrity.
On the other hand... I am not trying to defend Xi Jinping but to understand the situation of China in Asian thought not in my European perspective. Because as I said previously it is more complex than just say: "they are not a democracy so they are bad and bla bla bla..."
Well... what if this political context is the only which fits in Chinese administration? Imagine that you have to rule over 1.5 billion of citizens. Crazy right? Well they use rectitude mixed with Maoism in these cases.

Rectitude? Following the principles of Confucianism and Taoism? I disagree with your assessment of Xi Jinping and those following him. — dclements

He literally holds a PhD on Confucianism. Also, he wrote a book about the administration of China which is clearly influenced by those philosophical doctrines: The Governance of China.
This work is also related to: Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung inside the context of the so called "cultural revolution"

Mature Maoist period (1935–1940)

Intellectually, this was Mao's most fruitful time. The shift of orientation was apparent in his pamphlet Strategic Problems of China's Revolutionary War (December 1936). This pamphlet tried to provide a theoretical veneer for his concern with revolutionary practice. Mao started to separate from the Soviet model since it was not automatically applicable to China. China's unique set of historical circumstances demanded a correspondingly unique application of Marxist theory, an application that would have to diverge from the Soviet approach.

After Mao Zedong's death

The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up, known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Led by Deng Xiaoping, often credited as the "General Architect", the reforms were launched by reformists within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on December 18, 1978, during the "Boluan Fanzheng" period. The reforms went into stagnation after the military crackdown on 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, but were revived after Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour in 1992. In 2010, China overtook Japan as the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP and in 2017 overtook the United States by becoming the world's largest economy by GDP (PPP)

China is and will never be done. They survived the revolution of Mao, the starvation crisis of 60's, and the financial problems of the 80's and 90's. Sooner or later they end up searching a solution for the problems. We should not say "they will not last this decade". It is extreme. Keep in mind that despite they are not a democracy at least the National People's Congress is responsible. This is why they always survived from all the problems: Because their philosophy is being courageous in hard times and the principles points of Confucianism and Taoism. These doctrines are centuries years old they still remain.
Xi Jinping has something that no Western leader does: Rectitude.

We are living in a very complex scenario. Ukraine is at war, the prices are raising, unemployment increasing, and the world is getting divided as in the cold war. I guess (yes, I know I sound boring) what we should expect from our politicians is at least some righteousness. A Prime Minister is not a regular or ordinary citizen. She literally represents Finland and promotes some laws which are voted in the Parliament. Thus, she has a lot of power. Then, she has a lot of responsibility on their shoulders.
It is not fair or correct to party as a teenager instead of working hard 24/7. If you think this is "extreme" you are not able to be a politician with power because it seems not everybody is capable to be such an important person.

Imagine this scenario with Joe Biden or Scholz in Germany. It would be disgusting as hell... Everybody suffering from the gas and oil prices crisis and those politicians having fun... It is not correct to me.

Moses is supposed to be Israelite. But yes, according to the period of his existence he was Egyptian.

Moses' Hebrew mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him when Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites. Through Pharaoh's daughter (identified as Queen Bithia in the Midrash), the child was adopted as a foundling from the Nile and grew up with the Egyptian royal family

Translation please. — Agent Smith

"[Moses] said, I have been a stranger in a strange land."

Si comprehendis, non est Deus! — Agent Smith

:eyes:

Dicens, advena fui in terra aliena.
[Moses] :flower: :ok:

My position on these matters is: "Avoid major damage or harm". — Alkis Piskas

:up: :fire:

Death" is not harmful to one when one is dead. Also, insofar as life has "intrinsic value", it is manifest only in the living and only recognized by the living — 180 Proof

:up: :100:

I conclude, then, that the harmfulness of death is mainly post mortem. — Bartricks

If this is real we just discovered that we still have awareness afterwards of death. Here is where I disagree with your arguments.
There always been a lot philophers, thinkers, writers, artists, etc... who understood death as the real nothingness or "Nirvana" (Buddhism). They even killed themselves trying to find specifically that scenario: the lack of awareness.
If you say harmfulness of death is mainly post mortem you are forced to accept the premise that we still maintain conciousness when we are dead...

What explains suicide then? — Agent Smith

Exactly. I had the same question in my mind whenever I finished the read.

What about earthquakes, drought, famine, disease, childhood cancer, etc.? — Art48

Natural disasters which are suffered by people. Those catastrophes represent the randomly of life. Some experiences it and others don't.

We're living in an era of secular tyranny. — baker

There always been tyranny from the rulers or statemen. Nevertheless, I still maintain my opinion that a public representative should behave according to righteousness. I guess this issue is not based on her parties but the fact she is the PM. If she would be a random person nobody would care at all.

. If God exists and has created the world, then he approves of all this killing, raping, and pillaging. It's how he wants things to be. Anything that proposes to tbe "the genuine word of God" needs to reflect that. — baker

Well the theists always use the same argument in that context: God is not guilty of human's free will. :rofl:

US is stuck in a rutt, and the stakes are tightening. Fascism and commusism are on the rise — Merkwurdichliebe

You never lived Fascism and communism as we did here in Europe.

The Banzai charge was a rather unsuccessful war strategy — universeness

You are wrong, but I respect your opinion as much as I respect all the integrity of Japanese soldiers defending the honour of Hirohito

From where I'm sitting, the most important "problem" facing humanity is a lack of inner awareness. — Bret Bernhoft

Completely agree :100: :up:

we have to assume that ethical acts and behavior are genuine. — Alkis Piskas

:up: :fire:

God is merely a concept, concepts are central to philosophy, and to simply prove a concept it must accurately reflect what it represents in reality — introbert

You are right. But you have to keep in mind that for theists God already exists. I mean, they are not opened to debate about the existence or meaning of such concept.

A lot of billionaires make donations here and there with the only purpose to obtain tax reductions or pretend to care. — Alkis Piskas

Good point and here is what some authors pretend to explain towards intentionality.
Donations itself sounds to be a good act of solidarity, right? Well... sometimes it hides bad faith in such actions as avoiding the pay of taxes as you explained very well.
So, if I make a donation not for helping homeless children but to avoid taxes it is clear that my intentions are bad or at least selfish. But if instead of donating money I build a school I guess my intentions are different and then it is more clear that I pretend to help others.

I was pretending to answer with a "no" to your question. But the following paper surprised me indeed:

However, maybe we have to look if such a thing as "quantitative ethics" actually exists.
For example, visiting https://ethics.utoronto.ca/quantitative-ethics/ (from the Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto), one reads:

I never realised quantitative would be important towards ethics. The last year I read two books: After Virtue by Alistair McIntyre and Moral Reasoning, by Victor Grassian. Well, according to these authors what is really important inside ethics is intentionality. They share a lot of moral dilemmas explaining that the real virtue is how is your intentions to resolve such philosophical problems.
I have always been agreed with this thought until you raised some crucial questions in this thread.

Nevertheless, I think is important to check each context or situation. In my humble opinion is more ethical to give the money to a homeless rather than a foundation because I see this intention as more personal than the latter.

E.g. the Democritean void (à la vacuum energy).

:clap: :100:

If a God ever did reveal himself/herself to humanity, the revelation would: — Art48

Nothingness. If he would exist I would imagine him as the pure representation of silence and emptiness. As much as we tend to understand death.

Philosophy is the junkyard of the sciences. — Some dude/gal

It was so painful to read... that dude or gal is ignorant as hell.

its a surefire way to get yourself killed. — Agent Smith

... Aren't we all end dying anyway?

No, it is not contradiction and I am fully respect your enthusiasm for trying to make this life less suffered. But I just can't see good reasons to change the issue. I think all of those are illusions of what we would dream about how the world and life should look like.
But these are just dreams... because when you wake up you realize life is painful and we are surrounded with a severe sense of uncertainty.

I disagree. They are exactly the same thing and we are condemned to suffer during the transition of our lives. Sorry to be pessimistic but either I do not know how to make life "suck less" neither I see good causes around us. It is literally the opposite. We no longer have good reasons to believe that the world would become a better place in the future.

If try to calculate how many days life sucks and doesn't, I bet that we would have more days of life sucking. Most of the days of our lives are even normal or ordinaries. I think we can label happy days as "extraordinary" and I even feel this is the common thought. The pure joy, beautiful experiences, laughing, etc... only happens in a while...

I like the Kierkegaard's thought about absurdity or reductionism. But on the other hand, I personally think that suffering is not absurd at all. We are so brave to keep living in this life full of uncertainty and subterfuges. I would call this state of mind as perseverance rather than absurd.

After all, if the world is absurd, and everything we do is absurd anyway [...] — Kierkegaard

No reason why we can’t have a new bill of rights tomorrow — except for the above. — Xtrix

Because most of the citizens (future voters) do not understand the issue or do not care at all. As you said in one of the paragraphs the politicians tend to brainwashed to defend their own position. It is very difficult to fix something which is so broken.
It is true, the political structure is so complex that I don't even know how really works. But what I really feel is the fact of how far away is from the citizens

That is not because life sucks but being old and having family issues can suck. — Athena

:up: :100: Fantastic! You understand me! We have common opinions!

His reasoning was nuanced. If someone "willed" their own death, then even ones own death was an act of "will".. Thus, suicide of the body isn't getting rid of will. Rather, ascetic denial of will does. [...] — schopenhauer1

Good quotes from Schopenhauer, indeed. But I want to add to his arguments some brief comments: we can also see suicide as an aesthetic act of purity. The individual can commit it justifying such act with the aim of preventing dishonour or being sorry to all of those we owned respect and condolences. I think is one of the main acts to show the purest respect you have both to yourself and others. Committing suicide with this purpose can allow to get some "redemption"

The Japanese have always been a people with a severe awareness of death. But the Japanese concept of death is pure and clear, and in that sense it is different from death as something disgusting and terrible as it is perceived by Westerners. — Yukio Mishima.

But we can also see it as an act of liberation from community or society. When there are a lot of issues we tend to protest, right? Well there were a lot of unknown heroes or "seppukunin" who committed suicide in a symbol of protest. For example:

His name was Kozaburo Eto. This young student killed himself on february 11th, exactly the Constitution’s day. He did it lonely in the darkness of his job staying apart from television or looks. It was a solemn and respectful act. This was the main critical action against politics I ever seen in my life. — Yukio Mishima, the way of samurai, pages 81 and 82.

bushido/samurai based loyalty/devotion to act like a ninja / an assassin — universeness

First of all, you are confusing terms: "Bushido" is a way of living. Samurai is how we called the "warriors" in Western world. Ninja is private assassin.

If you don't comply then your sensei will get his/her other loyal followers to kill you and all your family. Have such situations ever arose in past history that you have heard of? — universeness

Yes, I am aware of these scenarios. My sensei would not have a problem in my quality of loyalty because I will never cheat on him. But I understand that if he starts not believing in me he wants to kill me. Rather dead than disrespect my sensei.

Do you think the loyalty shown by the Japanese people towards Hirohito was of great benefit to them? Did it result in the development of a fair and progressive Japanese society? — universeness

Hirohito was a very important emperor to Japan:
After WWII Japan became the second largest economy of the world.
Japan is one of the most important industrial countries nowadays.
Their culture and values are respected around the globe.
They demonstrate that with effort and patience you can achieve whatever they want. They recovered from a Nuclear attack and Fukushima accident. Amazing.
Hirohito was also a member of Nations Council which today is United Nations.

Well I don't go off topic but there are a lot of reasons of why Hirohito was important and why Japan is one of the top nations in the world. Their Bushido philosophy is what I have missed in my useless and poor country.

BANZAI.

How would you ensure your loyalty is deserved by those individuals you are loyal to? — universeness

It is deserved if they help me to become a better person. If they respect me. If they do not b*tch against me, etc... I mean all the basic characteristics from a loyal person, right? Sadly, we already lost the classical relationship about "master-student" or "sensei-gakusei" where there was a good loyalty among them because everything starts thanks to wisdom and this virtue necessarily needs to be taught by someone: thus sensei.

Yeah. They suicide as a punishment (?) But I see it as a honourable act to not disappoint people and finish the average pain the life tends to give us.

Bushido is not a way of being that I would ever recommend as it is (imo) based on blind obedience to the dictates of 'leaders — universeness

No. Bushido is not a way based on blind obedience but loyalty. This is why I recommend more than ever they way of a samurai. We completely lost the basic sense of respect and honour. If we keep forgetting these antique doctrines we would end up in a pit full of corruption and liars.
Wait a minute... we are already sat in that pit.

there was another referendum carried out in Greece, in 2015, to decide whether Greece should accept the bailout conditions in the country's government-debt crisis proposed jointly by the European Commission. Well, 61% of the Greeks voted against. Yet, nothing changed ... The bailout conditions were accepted nevertheless!! So, this proved to be a useless referendum! — Alkis Piskas

Well, at least you voted against something. Here our governors just applied whatever the European Commision said regarding debt crisis. This context is quite similar to Covid issues and "next generation funds". Yes, it is true we are receiving a large quantity of money but this only means that the EU lobbies would have more power in my country and would erode our sovereignty.
The European Commission and European Central Bank play with us like puppets. But it is true that I perceive they tend to be "germanic" I mean, they promulgate laws so called "Directives" rooting in favour of German interests.

On the other hand, check Denmark and Ireland. Also Non-EU Issues for Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden. all northern countries! — Alkis Piskas

Yes, they have more custom on make a lot of referendums in whatever topics or issues. Nordics are known for being true representative democracies. It surprises me Ireland. I never expected they pose a big number of referendums. Well I guess it could be related to historical issues. They got the independence thanks to a referendum.

Your life can suck even if you study and learn "harder" than others. This state of mind is very complex. I don't agree that to "un-suck" your life you need to be in continuous movement or doing "something"
Believe it or not one can decides if his life is worthy or not. I think it depends on volition.

Government keeps people divided.
If the people were united, we could protect each other — Yohan

Exactly. This is how I want a society. Instead of living in a state we can try to achieve a community where we share goods and act with responsibility.

I still think people in positions of power should be beyond the need for frivolous fun. It's not even about "being responsible"; it's about being so capable, so smart, so superior to the masses that one doesn't need the cheap emotional outlets that the masses do. — baker

Completely agreed :up:

This gave rise to a proverb: "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion"
I still maintain my original thoughts about this issue. I think we the citizens should expect more from a PM, even when we are living a difficult time in this period of war crisis and gas prices. You cannot have most of the people wondering what would happen in winter while she is partying as a teenager.
When I saw her dancing like that I thought she was not responsible enough to be a public representative. But this opinion leads me to be called sexist. Because the people who defend her maintain the idea that she is young and she is free to have fun because we are living in a “modern era”