I think Fred Rogers was just astutely aware that he had a personal choice to make as to whether or not he would live his life maximizing the happiness and health of others while minimizing his negative impacts.
The reason different societies have words for this mindset is because being a Cool Dude is universally appreciated in this godforsaken world. Thinking Fred Rogers would have anything to do with this weird caliper bullshit is offensive to the very idea that anyone and everyone can do their part to be a good neighbor, which was his whole fucking thesis.
I agree that this analysis is basically flawed, but is the crux of asceticism really "maximizing happiness and health of others while minimizing negative impacts"? as a collection of practices it seems very internally focused to me.
For Rogers I believe the reasoning he gave for wanting to stay the same weight/build was he wanted his appearance to provide a constant for his young viewers in what is a very uncertain and changeable time in their lives. Though I would guess he also had a bit of a personal fixation on it to make it an exact weight vs a small band.
I think Fred Rogers was just astutely aware that he had a personal choice to make as to whether or not he would live his life maximizing the happiness and health of others while minimizing his negative impacts.
The reason different societies have words for this mindset is because being a Cool Dude is universally appreciated in this godforsaken world. Thinking Fred Rogers would have anything to do with this weird caliper bullshit is offensive to the very idea that anyone and everyone can do their part to be a good neighbor, which was his whole fucking thesis.
I agree that this analysis is basically flawed, but is the crux of asceticism really "maximizing happiness and health of others while minimizing negative impacts"? as a collection of practices it seems very internally focused to me.
For Rogers I believe the reasoning he gave for wanting to stay the same weight/build was he wanted his appearance to provide a constant for his young viewers in what is a very uncertain and changeable time in their lives. Though I would guess he also had a bit of a personal fixation on it to make it an exact weight vs a small band.
It's inherently a very liberal outlook because it focuses on the individual, so its destined to be internally focused.