Morality = potential long term self interest

On the face of it for most people morality is just a set of rules/laws they follow and if done well they feel pride that they're a good person. But these rules have a basis behind them. This basis can be described as mutual self interest or potential long term self interest.

In other words morality = self interset + altruism, where altruism is really just potential long term self interest. So the thing is that people have very different ideas about what is the proper length of the long term. A "true atheist" at 20 ought to have a different idea than one at 80. People who believe in some vague afterlife ought to have a different idea than people who don't.

The issue is that people say they believe one thing and show through their actions that actually they don't. Ethical vegans who claim to be atheists are one such glaring example. There is no self interest in not killing a chicken if you think you're just going to cease to exist upon death. It would take having a hugely long term scope of potential self interest to possibly give a whoop about a stupid chicken. And that is exactly what it is taking. Vegans don't what to be in a hell because that isn't a happy place. A place where we're killing other creatures mainly just because we easily can is such a hell. They feel it's in their self interest to not live in such a place and thus they don't kill the chickens. They do their tiny part... why was it again? It's like voting. Your own personal vote doesn't matter. Partially at least pride. The made a set of moral laws based on an extremely long term self interest and now are simply feeling pride to follow it. The original moral laws though were made in terms of thinking of the extreme long term.

And some people just aren't smart enough to think in such long terms.

I think, therefore I am.

To the extent you don't think, you aren't. You don't exist. These people who don't think in such long terms exist less. They are less alive. Which brings us back to the original point somewhat. Chickens exist less. They do matter less than humans. Still unnecessary in so many ways to kill them.

If nothing else, I haven't had a cold or flu in 5 years and deep kiss my wife while it appears she might have bronchitis.

Rambing ugly post which very much goes against all of what makes a "good blog post". But gimmicks and dishonesty aside, still has more meat than any blog post I've ever read or just about anything I've ever read period.

...ok well that's not quite true. Haha. I lost the train of thought at the end... Damm. Will try, try, try again later.