On Evil and Good
Black, White or Gray?
Every human being is fundamentally different from another. It could be anything from favorite music to best leisure activity and much more. The differences among each and every one of us might be the same things that attract us to one another, after all, opposites attract. At the same time, it's what keeps some people away from each other. To some the glamour and appeal of the unknown in someone is not worth a second thought.
No matter the number of differences you can list (which are almost endless), there is one thing that's similar to everyone: a hidden persona, one hidden perfectly by a facade put up for people to see. This facade is so well managed that we end up forgetting that we have it in the first place. What I want to get into is about this hidden nature everyone has either consciously or subconsciously.
First, I shall refer to statements said by Jean Jacques Rousseau and Niccolo Machiavelli respectively. "Humans are good by nature it is society that corrupts them" and "Humans are naturally evil unless required to be good". Personally, I find Niccolo's depiction more accurate, human beings all have a natural evil dwelling inside of them. It is not necessarily something over the top, it could just be when you were a kid and you stole your friend's juice box only because it looked better than yours, or occasional selfishness, a trait that brings about so many other vices.
Sometimes I take a look at the news around the globe and I am appalled by how inhumane people can be. Taking another person's life, some people do it as easily as going out for grocery shopping and even casually go about their lives as if they didn't just snuff out someone's dreams and aspirations without a second thought. And for what? Measly cash or a reason almost as minute. The cruelty that people resort to just to quench their thirst for more, their insane craving to possess anything they can get their hands on at the expense of others, among many of other vices known to man, make me side with Niccolo.
Jean Jacques also had a point, though. Some people don't start out bad, but once they are left in this world and experience the cruelty firsthand they really don't have a choice, do they? If you can't beat them, join them. Thus, the hidden sides of people come out. You'd be surprised the things people close to you are capable of. Watching them betray you leaves an emotional scar like no other. Unfortunately, instead of learning from the pain, some end up doing it to others, effectively increasing the growing number of people in pain. At this moment, insecurities and emotional scars develop, scars that we neither want to show nor tell anyone about. It doesn't matter how much we pretend, heck we could even become a new person just to hide the fact that we don't want the world to see the real us. We can't bear to expose our true selves or leave ourselves vulnerable to the world's brutality and viciousness once again.
There is something about us that makes us hate seeing something good happening to someone else. We hate seeing someone trying to stand out, wanting to be different, we want to mow them down and put them back in their place. I relate this to seeing a flower blooming, it is extremely beautiful, but somehow a person will just pluck it out. The reason why is not even clear to them-they just didn't like it in full bloom. However, according to the principle of yin and yang, every bad has some good and vice versa. We all possess the ability to be ethical and righteous. We just need to tap into it, we need to feel bliss from helping someone, we need to be willing to feel each other's pain, we need to understand everyone has some hidden problems they are dealing with. If we can learn to be good, my opinion might change, but for now I can't help but agree with Niccolo.
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