The GoFundMe scam changed all my life in an "absurd" way (JEFF EDELSTEIN) | New



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Oh my God, do I have a philosophical hoo-ha charge for you to stifle in this beautiful autumn morning?

Are you ready? Are you sure? It's really going to be a stretch. Do not say I did not warn you …

I want to thank Mark D'Amico, Kate McClure and Johnny Bobbit for making me an absurdist instead of an existential nihilist.

How is it going for a grappling of a first sentence?

So yes: existential nihilism. Also allow Wikipedia to clarify this idea: "The philosophical theory that life has no meaning or intrinsic value."

Dark things, certainly, but a little as if I fell into my darkest moments. It makes sense to me. After all, I remain agnostic when it comes to the idea of ​​higher power, and once this box is ticked, there is really no other place to turn except "life 'does not make sense'.

Then come D'Amico, McClure and Bobbit – and the Burlington County Attorney's Office – and my life has changed.

D & # 39; AGREEMENT. And it's gone. Expect!

On Thursday afternoon, this trio was accused of conspiracy and theft by deception for having (allegedly) concocted the entirety of their welfare story of last year. A quick recap: McClure claimed to be out of gas in Philadelphia last year during a cold night last October. Bobbit, a homeless person, appeared unannounced. A gas station. He came back with a can filled with gasoline. McClure was so touched that she and D'Amico kept coming back to give him money, trying to help him. They eventually created a GoFundMe page and raised more than $ 400,000 for Bobbit.

It was the good story of the year.

But then, things started to deteriorate. Bobbit accused the couple of stealing some of the money and using it for themselves. Bobbit, a recovering addict, has relapsed into addiction. History has gone from being well-being to not-so-well.

And now, according to the prosecutor, none of this is true. Fiction from the beginning. There was no heroism of gasoline late at night. Just a scam, right from the start.

For a moment, this new mom really gave more weight to my nihilistic world view. Just when you think the world has meaning – you know, a charity or something like that – the world is pissed off your door. Simply terrible.

But then it made me think. Maybe there is a lesson here. And leave it to Wikipedia for me to find it.

Absurdism – especially the version of Albert Camus – is a much better place to live.

Basically, "the absurd" is the "conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning inherent in life and the human inability to find it."

The absurdism takes this nugget of information and, instead of falling into the nihilistic trap, allows for a much better – and proactive – way of thinking. Again, Wikipedia: Absurdism "timidly leaves the possibility of giving meaning or value to life … simply encouraging the fact that the individual lives authentically despite the psychological tensions of the Absurd"

In other words: you're crazy, D'Amico, McClure and Bobbit have made me think that this life makes sense, but thank you for showing me the way to find it.

It's up to me, in short. I should live my life, whether the meaning exists or not. I can not rely on the outside world – or in this case, on three alleged criminals – to provide it to me.

I obviously oversimplify things that I do not completely understand, but it does not matter. The fact remains, the actions of these three people have legitimately led me to take a look at life (or Wikipedia, same problem) and make real changes. Who knew?

Anyway, do not worry. I do not turn this column into a philosophy course. In fact, a story about a local urinal is in preparation. No bigger sense there, I promise.

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