The dialogue presents an intense inner dialogue between two opposing voices within a single individual: one representing traditional, future-oriented discipline and moral instruction, and the other embodying present-moment desire, comfort, and resistance to structure. The “future self” voice echoes familiar teachings handed down through generations—messages about saving for the future, setting goals, avoiding temptation, practicing sexual restraint, maintaining health, working hard, and sacrificing pleasure today for a better tomorrow. These lessons are framed as the path to being a “good person,” endorsed by religion, ethics, and societal authority.

In sharp contrast, the “present self” responds with frustration, rebellion, and craving. This voice defends pleasure, spontaneity, freedom, and comfort: watching TV, playing games, eating junk food, indulging in sex, substances, and relaxation. It resists planning, structure, promises, and pressure, viewing them as suffocating and joy-killing. The present self repeatedly insists on autonomy—wanting to act on impulse and delay responsibility indefinitely. As the exchange escalates, the future-oriented voice intensifies its warnings, invoking fear of disease, addiction, wasted potential, broken relationships, and long-term failure. Guilt, shame, and moral judgment are used as tools to force change. Meanwhile, the present self grows increasingly defensive, clinging to immediate relief from stress, pain, and dissatisfaction, even when recognizing dependence.

The speech culminates in a philosophical reframing: this endless conflict between the “good” future self and the “bad” present self is not a personal failure, but a deeply ingrained ethical structure inherited from thousands of years of moral teaching. These old ethics, the speaker argues, have perpetuated an internal war that remains unresolved—until now. The closing declaration, “Welcome to the new ethics,” signals a shift toward a different framework—one that promises reconciliation between present desires and future wellbeing, rather than perpetual self-conflict.