Why Are You Good?
Are you capable of badness?
You’ll never know real goodness until you’re capable of being bad. There’s no morality in a weak man not picking a fight with a strong man. There’s no morality in a dumb man not correcting another man’s mistake.
“To abstain from doing injury when you have the power to do it, deserves the greatest praise.”
(The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, 578)
Most people aren’t violent. Is that because most people are good, or is it because most people fear the consequences? If we knew there would be no consequences, would we be more violent?
I think the answer is sadly clear when we look at mobs and protests. Individuals know they’re less likely to be spotted and arrested if they start to cause damage. You could see this in the BLM riots that left every city in North America with millions of dollars in damages. You can see this today on college campuses where students chant for global violence.
Most of us consider ourselves good people. Even bad people do. So it’s worth asking ourselves the hard questions…
Questions of The Day
Why am I not bad? Do I avoid causing harm because I don’t want to, because I can’t (physically or emotionally), or because I’m scared of the consequences?
Chew on these questions while you enjoy the weekend. Love you all.
Your Friend,
Noah “BigNerd” Sochaczevski"
I’ve thought about this quite a lot over the years. I’ve tried to express the idea to the boys, but I’m not sure I’ve succeeded yet.
You can’t be “good” without being strong in at least a few ways. Simply being passive and meek is at best not-bad, without being in any way actively good. You’re not a good person for not hacking into a bank if you don’t have the skills to do it in the first place.
It’s also why I hate the word “nice”. Nice isn’t kind, considerate, honest, or helpful. Anyone can be nice, but it takes a certain strength of character to be more than that.