Good Evening, Everyone. Today I’d like to talk about the words we use, not even knowing the damage we do, with one specific question: Do you think you are a good person?
I’m willing to bet, to put real money on the line and bet that nearly everyone believes themselves to be a good person. I’m also willing to bet that many of the people who will answer that question with a “no” are really good people, but also really hurting people. They are the ones that have been told they are no good, that they are a monster, that they would be better off having never been born. And that hurts, more than a simple “I’m sorry” would ever be able to cover.
In these days of politics and fear, we lash out in anger and frustration. We use words to win, to wound, to prove we are right in the vain presumption that our being “right” even matters.
We flay our loved ones so very self-righteously; we flay innocent lives and cast salt to let it burn. Do we even know who we are hurting? Do we even care?
There is an old saying that goes something similar to ‘when you march to war, be sure you know where to point your weapons’.
And, maybe that’s the problem. We Americans have become so used to war, to fighting, to being strong, to having an enemy, that we’ve come to NEED an enemy. We’ve come to only know who we are and what we love by having someone to hate.
Life is hard. Choose love.
Hugs
Randy
Scottie's Playtime 
To reckon yourself a good person can be dangerous or folly, you could be blind or wilfully dismissing your own flaws, the air of self-righteousness or sanctimoniousness can be a toxic atmosphere, a path to justifying unpleasant acts.
To reckon yourself a bad person depends a great deal on how you see ‘bad’, some folk revel in the idea as a licence to be irresponsible, others use it as a platform for self-hate and some think it’s a sort of irreverent light hearted banner they can hang about their necks- each one is dangerous and corrosive in differing ways.
Flawed. I am flawed, all my faults are known unto me. Thus I carry on in a tongue-clicking, looking-in-the-mirror, ‘Gee. That could have gone better’, ‘Keep on trying’ sort of way. (Note to self: And try not to fall into the habit of believing you can see the entire Big Picture….will ya? In your old age you’re in danger of getting a Gandalf-complex)
No, I’m not ‘good’- just trying to do better, that’s all.
We are never going to be perfect, not us the muddle-headed species blessed with many gifts and yet still prey to base selfish or aggressive actions.
We can strive to uphold Compassion, Respect, Tolerance and above all Hope.
And we should never give up on any of them, no matter how great the odds, or the sneaking temptation to deal out violent red-mist wrath upon those who have offended us – that doesn’t mean guns or bombs either. Those Words mentioned in the post. Used in certain ways can be toxically destructive.
Flawed then, let us strive onwards, upwards. We might fly, eventually.
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Hi Determined. Sorry for the late reply, but I had a very long day yesterday.
So, hmmm. I understand your point, I think. To be honest with oneself is to acknowledge ones flaws. By acknowledging his flaws, he is able to improve them. If he is truly humble and open with himself, he can eventually fly. Yes, I agree.
I would be in a bit of disagreement with you on this because I believe no matter how “bad” a person has been, if his intentions are to be good, if his focus is to be good, if his definitions of good are being met by him, he is by his value understood – good.
My focus on this post was that final video. A person who believes himself/herself to be good, yet leaves another hurt so deeply as to ask if half the country would consider (don’t kill me on pronoun, please, nonbinary confuses me) her human, may still consider themselves a good person. And by definition, a good person would not intend to hurt another so deeply, so callously. Much like you say, a good person would be honest enough with ones-self to realize their error in the quest to somehow be right in a very odd contest.
I like your thought, though. I need to consider that longer.
Thank you!
Randy
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Hi Randy
Don’t worry about time gaps, I can rack up three or four days before replying having had a ‘Whaaat! Where did that time go???’ (or words to that effect) moment.
Warning: This is going to be a no-straight answer reply….
Good and Bad? Now there is a subject on which the works written could fill up a library by themselves….. After the big fight over how the subject matter is to sub-categorised, of course. (which will never really be settled).
I’ve spent much of my reading, listening and watching time on the subjects of history both military and political (in all forms). Under those twin influence the terms ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ can become blurred and unsatisfactory until ‘Justifiable?’ ‘Necessary?’ and ‘Inevitable?’ begin to nudge their way in. The ‘Realist’ school of International Politics is a morally austere in this matter.
That’s a Big Picture view, and yet a Big Picture is made up of millions specks of Humanity. So where does one individual’s support, resistance or inactivity figure? Should any of those stances impinge on how we judge that person? And by what degree?
To confuse the subject going down to a more daily level, there is the matter of how a person conducts their personal life? A person’s action in the public domain can have they ‘parcelled’ into one category and yet their personal lives will show another side. A sort of ‘Don’t meet your heroes’ or ‘Walk a Mile In My Shoes’ argument.
As a brit one thing I am certain of….Had I got into politics and reached the level of Prime Minister eventually a lot of folk would have been uncomfortable with my utterances and action (That ‘Power’ thing…dangerous stuff).
Going down to a current personal level, being a Christian (Catholic- very much at odds with a lot of what is said by Cardinals, Bishops, and Pope) there should always be that ‘Hold on there. What would Jesus say about that? Uh?….Check out-‘ and then go and refer to one of the Gospels and feel all kinds of wrong about the anger, judgemental, cruel, hypocritical etc thing just said.
The American Religious Right seem to have ditched the four gospels, unless they’ve re-written them. They are not alone in this of course. Religion and Politics such fertile breeding grounds for Hypocrisy.
So heck. Where do we start? How do we build a foundation? Where is our goal?
A look into the face of the person who would ask Trump ‘Do you think of me as a human being?’ is a start.
Because there is a kicker of a follow up statement there:
‘Given a certain set of circumstances not so implausible. Anyone, anywhere, anyhow, could find themselves asking the same question of another,’
Good or Bad?
Maybe we ponder on the classic comment by Franklin in Peanuts “All I know is any rule that makes a little girl cry has to be a bad rule.” and adjust it to other folk.
Happy to exchange views
All the best
Roger
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I absolutely love that ‘no straight answer reply’! “Given a certain set of circumstances…” is in general a quote of Martin Luther King Jr.; “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere”. To accept one person, one class of people as ‘lesser than’…. you have opened the door so that it is only a matter of time and power and anyone can be “lesser than”.
Thank you. I love this type of interaction!
Randy
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My pleasure Randy….
When I was writing that reply there were a number of…..
‘Hold on. Don’t forget’ or ‘Yes. But. What about?’ interludes. I nearly tied myself up in ethical ropes.
That is a powerful quote from Martin Luther King Jr, and one we should all bearing in mind, for it is so, so very easy to devalue the opposition from person to object (As, sad to say I am prone to do)
We have to be careful, and very alert to the foe within…they are fearfully good at deploying ‘Justification’ to suit the purpose.
Take care, and keep up the good work.
Roger👍
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Hi. Our words do have power. And what you say to a person this hour can change their entire day or how they treat the next few people we meet. The sad fact is even good people can have bad interactions where misunderstandings happen making communications difficult, if not impossible. But trying to see things from the other side of the conversation is important. But the words that hurt the worst and can have lifelong consequences such as in the first picture. If a child grows up hearing constantly over and over again that they are worthless, bad, or won’t ever amount to anything that can seep into their core being. A child who is belittled and trashed will either tune out life, or will act out in response, maybe feeling they need to transfer that hurt on to others. Hugs.
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Hi Scottie. Yes, yes, and maybe that child also grows to be a warm, caring, loving, hope-giving beautiful person because he knows pain and he doesn’t want anyone to ever feel that again. Such a person becomes a healer, a lover, a friend – even to those who wonder if they could be worthy of such. I believe the phrase ‘A child of darkness grown to Light’.
Hugs my brother.
Randy
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