User blog comment:GrandMethuselah67/Character Sheet: Malcolm River/@comment-4867780-20161014010956/@comment-4867780-20161015085721

Wow ! Seems like Bradley is virtually unbeatable ^ ^;

"What use is happiness if you don't have the freedom to decide how you're happy? There are many ways to be happy, but when you have freedom, you have the ability to be happy by your own devices and agency, as opposed to living in a world where the best is decided and chosen for you."

=> *looks at the world around him*

Hmm... doesn't seem to work that well in practice, does it ?

I think the major flaw in your theory that the pursuit of self-interest is almost inevitably done at the expense of someone else's self-interest, so in pratice everyone is building their own happiness by gnawing at others'. Surely, you realize how viciously happiness-unfriendly such a system inherently is ?

It could work in a post-scarcity society like the DIN because everyone can pursue their own interest without sabotaging others'. But in a zero-sum world like our own, how are you supposed to do that ? Isn't someone's victory someone else's defeat ? Isn't someone's gain someone else's loss ? Doesn't the wealth of a few imply the exploitation of many ?

As for the ethics part, real-life clearly suggests that in practice it is more an obstacle than an asset in the pursuit of self-interest, because otherwise... ethics would conquered the entire world ages ago, don't you think ?

And happiness is the end goal of utilitarism, so by definition it isn't meant to be useful ^ ^;