While I love poetry, and Kipling is by far my favorite, it’s been the Didact who not only has been posting excellent works, but has been focusing on the works and observations of this man.
Go see his latest post. Like much of Kiplings work it ponders human nature, and more broadly applies than at first glance. In a more general sense, it applies to those with no skin in the game who nevertheless wish to tell you what to do, and backseat drivers.
As an aside – it’s one thing to seek advice from someone with knowledge and no skin in the game, or seeing something, give advice when you have relevant wisdom, but in the end, the recipient of the advice is the one to choose. The evils of socialism come from those who have no skin in the game dictating to us, rather than simply informing us.
How can you tell the difference?
Look how they treat you when you say know, and if they try to make you do it anyway, “for your own good”.
Like all things, there are exceptions, like intervening in a drug addicts life. But even there, one should be careful, because unless the addict realizes how bad their life has become, unless they want to change, they won’t.
