Issue212 =美丽G程小组= by petric

petricUID: 2719885

I agree with the saying that we should spare no effort to achieve a goal especially it is desirable and worthwhile. However, we cannot extend this board assertion to embrace those with controversial ones considering apart from adverse consequences and means to attain the goal. My contention with the speaker lays the notion of worthy goals.

In order to fulfill our dreams, fixing goals step by step is crucial but not enough--persistence as well as endeavors lights the way to success. The spirit of sparing no effort to attain goals is not only justifiable but what we should advocate. After all, it is the great determination to realize multitudes of goals that ensures the development of history with prosperous human civilization. Without day-and-night explorations of researchers and scholars in the ocean of truth, hardly can we enjoy the convenience brought by science and technology; Had leaders of revolutionaries such as Mandela, Founders of America discard their aims for short-term safety and immediate need, South Africa would
still be a nation with racism and apartheid and America be the British colony. On the way to success filled with failures, illusions, only the bravest man ruling out fear to trial and error may achieve his ambition.

I appreciate the speaker's spirit of persistence, yet no matter how desirable the goal is- that is worthy as the speaker assumes- if the goal is far beyond our ability, we should stop where it should stop. For example, a man incapable of swimming should not save a drowning person without calling for other's help, or he would be victims in vain. Although the objective is admirable, it is too idealistic to attain at a high expense. Feasibility should be considered rationally, or we had to drop it to find other means. Considering, we cannot stop developing human society to recover nature to what it originally look like before human activities; or sacrifice the liberty of patients with AIDS to prohibit its fatal threat although this activity benefits for the majority. Thus, here lays my contention in term of how to define a worthy goal, which has strong connection with the methods and consequence.

I concede that it is hard to get consensus toward the worthiness of a goal, since more often than not we stand at different position, even opposite ones to weigh the benefits over the costs. After all, contradictions exist along with the variance of individual purposes. Accordingly, if by all means to attain goals is justifiable, the consequences would be unbearable. However, on a societal level we determine a worthy goal in much the same way- by weighing the pros and cons; at least it must obey laws and follow ethics and morality. Consider, fidelity to family cannot be the excuse of robbery; athletes should not take stimulant to win the race. Moreover, viewing a goal in a long-term perspective is a better means to determine whether we have missed the importance of objectives when we trap in dilemmas. One apt illustration is wars, most of which were to satisfy the appetite of rulers, on the pretext of benefits of the people. Clearly, this kind of wars only brought sufferings to the innocent, deaths to the poor, whereas status and reputations to those in power. Yet if wars fought for liberties of people against the intruders, then these wars are justifiable and worthwhile. In sum, if a goal is worthy, it should prompt development and benefits, apart from violating the interests of majorities.
In the final analysis, I agree with the speaker we should try our best to realize our dreams through attaining goals gradually, which should follow the moderate methods after we weigh the benefits against the costs.