What Ought to Be

Ideals that beget no meaningful action are worthless clutter. None shall fight for you, and even if they might, count not on them winning, nor on them establishing your rights on your behalf. Ethics cannot be separate from concerns of proximity and personal interest. For these lend context and present a course of action.

So I ask: Does it concern me? Indeed it does, but it does only so far as it concerns the actions I can take to protect my interest. Thus, the compelling question with regard to the actions of my contemporaries and the dynamics of the world about, is not what ought to be, but rather what is and what will be.

For neither what ought my contemporaries do, nor what ought the world become, have any bearing on the actions I might take.