Comments on: Corrupted personal finance word of the day: Sacrifice

By: Dragline

Dragline — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:30:53 +0000

I have heard this also described in a more neutral way of being able to appreciate 2nd and 3rd order effects.

The first order effect is what you get right now. For example, if you like the taste of cake, eating lots of cake would make you happy up front. But a second order effect might be the expense and a third order the long term effects on your health and appearance.

Being able to appreciate the long-term and/or down the round effects of a particular activity or decision makes for better decision making overall.

By: FreeUrChains

FreeUrChains — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:28:18 +0000

Only The King lives the longest in a game of sacrificial Chess…plus entitles himself to the women, land, children, estates, and rich/poor workers of the fallen brethren on both sides of the map. The only Winners (only on Earth and not in Heaven) are the ones in Power who have taken it by influencing someone else’s mentality to sacrifice.

Listening to your heart and you will find the courage to fight against your Kings and their games.

By: Oskar

Oskar — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:30:49 +0000

I often find not only this word but this mentality in people, people like to treat them selfs to things and there is a mentality that if i do not do things now like eat out or buy new technical gadgets or travel extensivelly i will somehow mis out however there is no appreciation for what can be done with the saved money in terms of other activities or even retirement as discussed in this blog.

By: Petra

Petra — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:56:14 +0000

You’re right. If you sacrifice something, you’re doing it because you’re at least hoping to gain something from it.

For example: sacrifices made by priests to gods were made to appease the god, keep a good relationship with the god, or beg for a good harvest or rain.

If you sacrifice some extra time on your job, it’s probably because you want a raise or a promotion. Or maybe you want to keep your job, which is also a good reason to sacrifice some time.

Some companies asked (last year, in the Netherlands) for people to sacrifice their yearly raise. In turn, the company wouldn’t fire people because of the bad economy. So in this case, you’re sacrificing money (the raise) to reduce the risk of losing your job; or to reduce the risk of your colleagues losing their job.

Sacrificing your smoking habit is for your health.
You could even sacrifice something because you hope to get spiritual growth. Or you could sacrifice some money to charities to help society as a whole (and to feel better about yourself).

There is always a goal when you’re sacrificing. Of course, the goal is not always reached.

If there is nothing to be gained, anyway, I don’t think you can call it sacrificing. Words like “losing” or “giving up” come to mind.

By: Kin

Kin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:30:16 +0000

I have cut out the “sacrifice mentality” out of my book. It carries a subtle meaning of certain degree of deserving-neess and others’ in-debtedness to it. The way I see is, if something is worth doing, all things considered (which require great perception), then do it. If something is not worth doing, then don’t do it. Don’t do it as “sacrifice.”

By: Joey

Joey — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:21:51 +0000

Actually, sacrifice originally referred to the literal process, as in sacrificing animals or people, before it began to acquire use in metaphor. Words change over time; change in itself is not indicative of corruption. That many now use it to refer to altruism or asceticism is neither inherently good or bad.