Self-sacrifice

[BoneScreech]

Self-sacrifice
Penned by Hanzou Akamatsu

"Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy, generally operating on the belief that the utility (happiness or satisfaction) of different people can not only be measured but also meaningfully summed over people and that utility comparisons between people are meaningful. That makes it possible to achieve a well-defined societal optimum in allocations, production, and other decisions, and achieve the goal the greatest good for the greatest number."

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"Self-sacrifice, the act of deliberately following a course of action that has a high risk or certainty of suffering, personal loss or death (which could otherwise be avoided), in order to achieve a perceived benefit for self or others, is a powerful ideal with a well-established place in many cultures, myths, and societies. Self-sacrifice may also be more broadly defined as selflessness, or the readiness to inflict pain upon yourself to save others."

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The themes mentioned above are but a few of the philosophies I have come across upon my travels. Utilitarianism and self-sacrifice can be argued to be closely related or running in parallel however in this piece of writing I shall briefly elaborate further upon the definition of self-sacrifice for it is something that each and everyone one of us relate to within our daily lives.
 
It is these definitions of self-sacrifice I shall detail the behaviour of an ant colony as a comparison to our own human and psychological behaviour in order to further emphasize the positive correlation.
 
Naturists, rangers and druids alike have seen and documented a species of ants that sends out a number of its workers each evening on a suicidal mission of importance in the sense that this mission ensures the continued survival of the ant colony. The worker ants sent out are said to make a nightly ritual of covering the entrance to the nest with sand. To be sure that the entrance is sealed shut tightly, however a few ants remain outside each evening to complete the covering of sand over the hole, hence the ants that remain stuck outside die to predation, are blown away in the wind or simply die from the low temperatures of the night.
 
If such seemingly cold and calculated means of throwing away a life for the benefit of the ant population are normal within the natural world, therefore why is it that other methods such as Lord Harvix’s proposal to defend the Colony with the use of necromancy where are upon?
 
It is the willingness for self-sacrifice to serve the greater good that has been documented within the history of our Colony and those who have done such an honourable and noble act have been forever immortalized. For example when the Governor Erasmus Ortred and a countless others died protecting the colony during the times of Red Eleint and also the defenders of present who constantly put their lives at risk in our defence against the threats that surround us.
 
Therefore it is significant that the interests of the colony should be placed above our own selfish pursuits, ethics and moral dispositions in the sense we must make use of all available means to further protect our fellow citizen through the employment of methods which may be considered controversial, however necessary for the greater good of our Colony.