February 18, 2012
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People are basically good
I am one who truly believes that people are good. We all have flaws, inner demons, etc – but we all seek the same types of things. Happiness, love, security and safety. I ran across this article http://www.shamar.org/articles/basically_good.php#.Tz8WcfGPV2A that I cannot agree with. Let me sum it up:
1. “if you believe people are born good, you will attribute evil to forces outside the individual.” – The article uses an example that we blame external forces (poverty) for terrorism. That isn’t true. Terrorism is awful, but the people committing these awful acts do not think they are evil! They didn’t dream of being the bad guys when they were kids. They are acting on a belief, whatever that is, that they are doing the RIGHT thing, and that the objects are the wrong thing. The innocents are casualties, much like war. Do not mistake me, I am not saying that any act of terrorism is justifiable or good – only that they believe they are on the side of right.
2. “if you believe people are born good, you will not stress character development when you raise children” - This one makes me mad, too. Did not stress character development? Grrr. The article states that people like me do not teach kids to develop their character, but rather to fight against external forces. Let me tell you a thing or two… My kids were raised volunteering, working, cleaning their room, making grades, learning to manage themselves SO THEY COULD manage external forces. “They learned that their greatest struggles were with society, and I learned that the greatest struggle was with me, and my natural inclinations to laziness, insatiable appetites, and self-centeredness” - This must have been thrown in there just to piss me off.
3.”if you believe that people are basically good, God and religion are morally unnecessary, even harmful. ” – This is not true, either. I think that MOST people I know that are religious or faithful in anyway are some of the most earnest people when it comes to character development. They work very hard at improving their flaws, and do not harm others in the process. I know this isn’t always true, some people use religion as a weapon. Do I think people without religion are more evil or wrong? Not at all.
4. “if you believe people are basically good, you, of course, believe that you are good — and therefore those who disagree with you must be bad, not merely wrong” – Now this doesn’t even make sense. If I believe people are basically good, and someone disagrees with me, I think they are bad? This is stupid and I am not going to bother arguing with it.
He ended with this note: “If the West does not soon reject Rousseau and humanism and begin to recognize evil, judge it and confront it, it will find itself incapable of fighting savages who are not noble.”
I prefer the Ghandi approach, “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
Comments (63)
“I didn’t have evil intentions, but I guess I did have power.”
-Harmon Killebrew
You’re not gonna like me much and I’m sorry for that but people is not bad or good, humans are just like any other animal on Earth but civilization and society have made them evil and now it’s so rooted inside that I don’t think humans could function withon their own creations without law inforcing morals upon them, morals usually biased and often unethical.
Basically I don’t think we’re good or bad, those terms are totally relative so what’s good for one sociaty set might be wrong for another.
Good blog. People aren’t born bad. Ignornant people piss me off because they can change themselves but do NOT want to. Those same people refuse to better themselves and blame everyone else for their problems. And want something for nothing.
@xXxlovelylollipop - I understand what you’re saying and in many ways agree, self preservation is first instinctively, the preservation of the family, etc, etc.. But I don’t believe anyone willingly sets out to do wrong or harm others. I think people react wrongly, for a number of reasons, but have the basic nature and intention of “goodness”. Even animals do not commit “evil” acts, they simply react to preserve in the way they know how.
@Shadowrunner81 - I’m not saying all acts are good, but most intentions are!
@Zoz36 - Nobody chooses to be ignorant, or incapable of taking personal responsibility, or to be incapable of giving. Sometimes these qualities appear in people who aren’t taught differently or suffer from some sort of inability to be introspective. I bet none of them would tell you, I prefer to be a dumbass.
@BoulderChristina - Granted it’s from wikipedia but here ya go. People can be born ‘evil’. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy
Lack of empathy
Psychopaths possess a general lack of empathy. At an extreme they are simply unable to understand the emotional states of other people, except in a purely detached, intellectual sense. Other people are thus little more than objects for their personal gratification. This callousness extends to everybody, family or strangers alike. They neglect other people’s needs and desire and can casually inflict cruelty. A normal, empathic person experiences distress when he observes another human in pain, but the unempathic psychopath feels nothing. Psychopaths are thus capable of stunning acts of cruelty because they are not restrained by any unpleasant reaction to their victims’ suffering.
@Shadowrunner81 - There are these people, I agree! But though they are born with something missing, they are the exception, and not the rule. Evil? I don’t think so, but I could be wrong. I think there are those that are incapable of “feeling for others” or empathy and that removes a very human quality. But I don’t think they choose it. I think they suffer from it.
@xXxlovelylollipop - And how could I ever not like you, love?? If I disliked people who disagreed with me I would be a lonely girl!
@BoulderChristina - I’m not sure they would think they suffer from anything. BUT, I agree with you and from looking at them from outside themselves they are suffering from some kind of defect. Have you seen recent seasons of Survivor or some other reality shows? I think they test people for psychopathic traits because that will maximize the drama! lol.
I don’t know if you’re looking for a discussion on this or not, so forgive me if you’re not… but I do not think people are born good. I don’t necessarily think people are born evil, but rather that they are somewhere in between. If people were born good, you wouldn’t have to teach children to share with other children… they would just know to share, right?
I think external forces condition humans to be either good or evil.
@Shadowrunner81 - Haha! I do love the drama, too…
@BoulderChristina - animal can’t commit evil acts cuz they don’t have an ethical code or a social moral that dictates what’s right or wrong. What’s right is to survive and procreate, same for humans but the social concepts of right and wrong depend on sociaty so good intentions or evil intentions (cuz there are evil intentions) depend on the social trial.
@SarahC0828 - I don’t think that people are born knowing how to behave properly, that is taught! Which is what most people complain about others – they don’t know how to behave properly. But show me a child that doesn’t want acceptance, love and joy and try to offer that to others… They fight over toys, they fight with selfishness and self centeredness, but they are simply working on developing tools to give and receive what they need. The nature of people isn’t always reflected in their behavior, and it’s the behavior that needs adjustment, not the nature.
@BoulderChristina - Some people aren’t raised right. I agree with you there. And that’s the main problem…
@BoulderChristina - Just out of curiosity. Does this have anything to do with well…..anything…beyond just the article. I’m just wondering what brought on this post. I say ‘just’ a lot…:-/
i’ll stick with what ghandi said too. this was an interesting read, and that goes for the comments too.
overall, i feel people learn to be “good or bad”. but there are exceptions when something just does not go right in the brain.
@xXxlovelylollipop - Maybe what I should have said is people are not inherently evil. People sometimes behave badly with the best of intentions, first preserving self, family, community, etc. Who commits evil for sole purpose of being evil? There are exceptions, of course. But I firmly believe that people are born with some sort of sense of goodness.
@Zoz36 - Yeppers
@Shadowrunner81 - I’ve been accused of being naive and too trusting
@buddy71 - Genetics or culture, that’s a never ending debate!
there are a lot of good people in the world doing good things, but the bad ones create more drama and get more press and media coverage than the ones who do good things.
The neighbor who cuts his elderly neighbors grass doesn’t get media attention but that thank you and smile from his elderly neighbor is worth so much more.Good post.
@BoulderChristina - I think there’s an inherent code of conduct in order to preservate species a personal ethical code if you like…still that doesn’t makes you good in the modern sense of the word, what makes you good in a natural way is being stronger than anyone else, bein able to procreate more than others and that often means you’re much more agressive than your peers, that’s what is naturally good in us. People delude themselves into beliefs of self rightgeousness but that’s just a religious delusion I’m afraid.
@Grannys_Place - You’re exactly right. Turning on the evening news or reading CNN exposes us to only the bad, and that is what we focus on. It’s sad that we don’t delight as much hearing about the good things, if we did, news stations would offer hopeful stories rather than tragic ones!
@xXxlovelylollipop - I am not religious in the least. I may be self righteous, though. I will have to think about that. I know what you are saying, you are referring to instinct and natural tendencies. I believe (maybe wrongly) that people are born with additional instincts, including the instincts to care for and preserve the species in more ways that food and procreation.
I couldn’t agree more.
yep. I like how you think.
your philosophy makes much more sense than the site in question.
I very much like your approach to it.
@Grannys_Place - So very true.
@Demonic_Obsession - Thanks! I was starting to wonder if I was alone here!
@plantinthewindow - Thanks!
@roscoes_farm -
You’re such a doll! Thank you!
All the way up until I was the age of 30, I believed that people were fundamentally good.
Now I think I was just naive and now I am jaded.
@TheTheologiansCafe - Crap, I am pushing 40. What does that say about me?
It says you have aged well. I would have guessed you 25.
@TheTheologiansCafe - Why, sir – you are making me blush!
Chloe agrees with you. People are basically good. Did you see this vid?
http://we-deny-everything.xanga.com/758368166/just-say-no-to-politics-part-ii/
@we_deny_everything - That is one of the cutest videos I’ve ever seen! What a sweet thing to wake up to
I like to get out of that box of good or evil as I see it as “One big mind game.” I rather like the view of Tabla Rasa (the mind is a blank slate). One other point. What if the writer of the article is “evil?” What if he was born that way? How then can he write the truth?
@vexations - You sound exactly like my husband. Are you a taoist, too?
@BoulderChristina - This was a great post for xanga because it is so unlike xanga- it makes us actually THINK! Kudos for that. I have a different approach now on the causes of “good and evil”, and this post helped me for my (not my next but the one after that) blog post and I think I will incorporate this into it and link it back to you. I will do this on my main blog but I will re post in full over here on xanga.
You probably know me by now
so you know I will be hitting this at a totally unorthodox and “outside the box” angle. Believe me you never heard this approach before…But like everyone, since I believe I am basically good 
I also believe I am right and everyone else is wrong LOL But I am willing to educate the masses LMAO!
@TheTheologiansCafe - what happened at 30???
@LadyboyRevolution - You are a doll! Unorthodox and shocking, but admirably impassioned.Glad you liked it!
I think folks are indeed born good. There was a study a few years ago, that showed children, even as young as a few months could show empathy, and were able to tell good from bad (perception, of course)
The example of teaching kids to share is is not a good one, though. Who’s to say sharing is good? It’s not bad, either, but one isn’t necessarily bad if they choose not to share.
It’s badness that is taught. Where it originates, is definately up for debate. Racism is something someone is born with, it’s taught.
I think most “bad” comes from being brainwashed or miseducated.
I agree. I’m an optimist and if I’m being bad, I’m only being bad to myself.
@grim_truth - I read that one! And you are right about sharing, it is considered good in the terms of being a better citizen and making friends, but not necessarily “good”.
@NewDog2 - I always knew you were a bad boy
@BoulderChristina - hahaw, well that was quick. I’m afraid to even ask. I try to be a good dog but sometimes I still pee in the wrong place.
@NewDog2 - Had an afternoon break!
I believe people are good, and I believe being good is hard work.
@RighteousBruin - Probably the hardest! But hurts less than doing wrong overall.
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean;
if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
This one really spoke to me! I have to remember to keep this in mind because I have a really hard time believing in the good intentions of most people. There are the occasional people who revive my faith in people and I try very hard to keep those people in my life, but they’re so rare.
I think this idea you express here that people are good comes from an old mystical philosophy that states, that evil does not exist only the good. We create evil so its not a separate living existing force in the universe. Its a thought that is hard to realize by many simply because of all the evil thats out there. True evil is out there but only because we put it there. It was never there in the first place.
Great post. Thanks!
I used to think like that too. And it was when I was in my 28th year of age I learned the hard way that I was wrong. I think very few people are truly good, and the rest of them are only as good as they have to be to get what they want, or to avoid punishment. Most people, I have found, are very deceptive, right down to what they tell themselves. They do not really care about the truth, only what makes them comfortable. And that is not good.
I may be jaded like @TheTheologiansCafe said.
@specialxplaces - It’s hard to recover from hurts, no denying that. Thank you so much for stopping by! Pleasure to meet you.
@The_Eyes_Of_A_Painter - This is exactly what I believe! Thank you!
@FrenzElectric - Thank you, sir!
@mtngirlsouth - Ive heard that, too. There may be some truth in it, but I’m pretty sure we don’t start out that way. Thank you so much for the add!
Like terrorists. What good person could believe that blowing up their own child is for a good thing? I just got done reading a book of a true story about a Saudi Arabian princess, and after reading that, my opinion of the Muslim male went WAY down. (If that were even possible.) Those men will lock their own daughter up in a padded room with no light and a hole in the floor to use the bathroom, and slide her food under the door till she dies. Usually insane. No human contact. Or they will drown their own daughter. Or stone her to death. I get that they think they are doing God’s will, but I know God put it in them what right and justness is. They just can’t do that and be good.
And the governments of Africa allowing, even causing the starvation of those people, in the one continent that is the richest in jewels and precious metals!
The way leaders all over the globe wrong their people, because they have the power to do so, and it makes their lives better. There is an old saying, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” And I believe that. If people were good, it wouldn’t.
That is where my reasoning comes from. I think all babies are sweet and kind. So, it is possible they learn it. But, to coin a phrase, I guess most people, “turn to the dark side”.
@mtngirlsouth - I completely understand how you feel and agree. People with strong convictions can sometimes not see the big picture. If the afterlife is the goal, why value life? Same with how women are treated in many areas of the globe. Sometimes it’s impossible to see beyond their convictions, culture, religion. This is a tragedy, but doesn’t make the individuals, cultures or religions evil. Just taught ideals that harm others with the intent of serving a higher good. Everybody wants to be a hero, not a villain.
@BoulderChristina - IDK. I have three daughters. And I can’t imagine taking a club and beating them to death for “bringing shame to the family”. Those men do not even see women as people. They will stone them to death for being raped, yet sleep with hookers. Complete hypocrisy. The very fact that they can internally justify it makes them not good people.
But, you must remember, I am an INFJ personality type. So, I don’t think like most people, and justice is very important to me.
@mtngirlsouth - That’s awesome! I’m an enfp, I do! Forgive my errors, I’m on an iPhone. I have daughters myself, I lost one to cancer and fought with drugs with another. The very thought that men can do this makes me rage. I spent a lot of time studying Africa, the middle east, genocide and wars. The common ( yet unacceptable) theme remains serving a higher purpose of some sort. Sick and wrong, heartbreaking and unimaginable, but rarely with an evil intent.