You must be the change you wish to see in the world, Joe. I try to be increasingly vocal about these things as a writer/journalist/thinker.
I think that it is important to keep in mind that within one’s own more framework one may be acting toward some conception of the good while appearing to be “bad” in the eyes of others. You can only do what you know, and if some people are so out of touch where they don’t know what it’s like to pay rent or commute to work, then they cannot really faulted for not knowing what they don’t know. I am unsure of how many people are sociopaths, but I do not think it is as exuberant a number as you think.
By calling them “The Wealthy”, you could be unconsciously perpetuating the very dehumanization that allows “The Wealthy” to continue the mechanisms of exploitation from which they profit it, whether it be knowingly or unknowingly. This is one of the things that needs to be address. Care, compassion, and respect for all people. The problem isn’t the people who are “the wealthy” but the exploitation from which they profit.
I think disclosure and communication is important.
I also think one-person can, has, and will continue to change the world. The question is: in what way?
Qualia is weird! But I don’t think it’d be any less weird with an explanation. And what would an explanation enail? If someone believes in the Christian concept of God, that doesn’t explain why there is a God, why God acts as God does, or how to live one’s live.
People value whatever they value for whatever reasons they provide whether they provide a reason at all. So how's about we all choose to value the same thing and go from there. I say we value people. The question then is: what's best for people? There is no one answer because the world is in a constant state of flux. So what we need to do, me thinks, is emphasize critical thinking. This is what I see as one of the fundamental shortcomings of political action today: too much concern over being he or she who he right and not enough concern for simply helping others. Helping others might just entail asking others how they want to be helped.
