Just how bad are we?

I am a child. Explain good and bad to me

 

It's all blatantly subjective.

 

we just " are"

 

i think the need for money and material things make us corrupt. the need for those things gives bad people leverage over good people. but if we're talking about government/politics, i cant help you there. thats just too fucked for words imo.

 

It's not the need for those things which make some corrupt it is the desire for those things. Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth

 

Greed and corruption were born from Government.

When looking for answers, it's best to trace back to root cause.

Our founding fathers tried to forewarn us about a two-party system hundreds of years ago. They knew even back then what was coming.

We didn't listen.

 

i can agree with that. i'd have to argue that you do need money though. unless you're entirely self-sufficient and such.

 

Anyway, We are all born with a lot of the same faults that make us human. But society as a whole has fallen into a dark place. People learn horrible values from others wherever they go.

If your parents are racist, but treat you with respect. You're probably gonna end up being racist. People are impressionable like that.

 

very true. another problem is that people who have "succeeded," financially or otherwise, seem to have a false sense of wisdom. for example, "i have this and this wrong with me, but look where i am. how bad can i be?" <---that mentality is what makes the cycle continue somewhat.

 

"Unless either philosophers become kings in their countries or those who are now called kings and rulers come to be sufficiently inspired with a genuine desire for wisdom; unless, that is to say, political power and philosophy meet together, ... there can be no rest from troubles..."
"Book V" of the Republic, Plato

 

sounds about right

 

One of my favorite lines: "We are not inherently good or bad, but the world is inherently hard."

Basically, its not a natural pre-disposition to evil but a reaction to a very difficult world that causes people to do "bad" things...

 

Our current system is set up to run off of greed and corruption. Where there is capitalism there will always be an oppressed majority of the proletariat to support and feed the owners of the means of production

 

I feel as though we are all products of our enviroment ultimately or products of the head honcos we will proly never see in our lifetime.

 

The first sin of the bible, is to commit adultery, "Do not partake of the tree of knowledge of good and bad, in the day that you do you shall surely die." It's been a spiral, starting from Adam and Eve, to the many adulterers present today. And things will keep spiraling, until we're extinct.

It wasn't meant for man to have sex, though man is born in animal form, he still is godly in spirit. With the consistent corruption that stemmed from that corruption. One sin leads to another, adultery to covetousness, covetousness to blasphemy, blasphemy to murder. And from these, stem modern society. All things are built from the sins of our fathers. From the blood shed, from the things coveted. To all the corruption with those with power. Now things are so corrupted, and eroded, it's hard to make any sense out of anything. As babes, we grow up to a world of corruption, and we become molded to it, we didn't have to do anything corrupt, to become corrupt, we become corrupted, just because of our environment.

 

This is what I think.

Someone who is born strong and tall or attractive may find themselves fulfilling their desires by using their looks or power to their advantage. If I got everything I want by shoving people around or showing some cleavage (or just given things and attention because of looks), I will continue this and embrace these traits to compensate for a lack of substance (intelligence, personality).

Someone who is born weak, unattractive, or is very intelligent may find themselves fulfilling their desires by using their intelligence to their advantage and compensating for a lack of strength and looks by being as polite and respectful as possible because those actions were the only ones that got them what they wanted(Can't just beat someone up for saying something they didn't like).

This fits the "product of environment" theory fairly well.

About corruption and what is good or bad, it is purely judgmental besides what goes through your mind before you act (I don't need someone to tell me causing pain is bad, assuming I know what pain is, same with stealing).

If I have a choice between theft/selling drugs or letting my family starve, is the former wrong? Someone living in the suburbs sheltered their whole life may think so, but at the same time someone living in the projects not being able to afford the food on their plate will look at that person as a hero to their family, specifically as someone who risks their freedom and life to preserve that of their family's.

Just about everything is relative.

 

There are countless supersticians about genetics, born evil, born gay, etc, we aren't 'hard-wired' like this in any way, we are what we are and do what we do because we have human bodies and are affected, or disaffected by our environment.

But we are so bad that way more than fifty percent of our actions are a complete waste and we only do what we do because there is nothing better to do because everything has been denied from us and also because we are supposed to behave in a particular way.

For example, we don't trust each other, so every store needs a clerk to exchange money with you, rather than the basic necessity of a store stocker, that is a role anyone could perform for the service of all people.

 

Q : Just how bad are we?

A : We are as bad as we need to be.

 

I would like to point out that very young kids start showing jealousy and fight over things easily. Just as animals fight over food or something. Just think of us as advanced animals that are taught to keep these instincts under control.