The Pauper: Chapter 10: Pleasure & Sexual Indulgence
A man who has no self-control is a true danger to himself and to others.
Pleasures, when indulged in too often, cause financial and relational setbacks. And setbacks, for the pauper, can take years to correct.
The key consequences of pleasure are distraction, pacification, elimination of focus, and euphoria. These combined allow a man to let go of worries, fears, anxieties, if even for a moment.
It is why the merchant who deals sedatives, depressants, and stimulants, will always be secure, even if he's outlawed. But the pursuit of pleasure also undermines those traits which promote the objective public good.
A man obsessed with indulgences does not contain the character to live by conviction. Because to live by conviction requires the willingness to sacrifice. And also, to delay short-term gratification for long term gain.
The most volatile of these indulgences is sex. It is the one indulgence which necessitates two or more people. As it boasts the potential to morally and psychically injure a counterpart or tear communities apart, it can also leave the one who indulges, in a contemptible shell. A being devoid of productive, pure, and vibrant engagement with their community, and their society.
Excessive indulgence in sexual pleasure will weaken what little exercise of self-control a man already possesses. And a man who has no self-control is a true danger to himself and to others.
It is because he becomes easy to manipulate and entice. His focus becomes cloudy, robbing him of the clarity by which to maneuver and better his lot. He can be held captive with such enticements, or blackmailed, and those who seek an advantage over him, will use it to the detriment of others.
Those who would employ him for productive uses may find him a liability—since he poses a threat to healthy environments, and good order and discipline, hence dismissing him. Because of this, it will be difficult for the pauper to do good, or conduct himself with virtue of he indulges too often.
Because if he pursues indulgences, he finds himself more in the company of those whose cooperation he requires to continue in them. He becomes a slave to his desires, and inevitably an enemy of what is good. In doing so, determination will flee him, as well as good and helpful company.
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