viernes, 26 de junio de 2009

The Right Thing... The Fair Thing...

I’d like to say that this is no easy topic to talk about… I think that’s the reason why I wrote it in English… I finally put together all the pieces that this subject is linked to or links together whatsoever… I think…


The thing is that regarding subjects of such moral complexity, we can’t help the fact to relate it to every aspect of our lives, which in turn could be a double edged blade… Well I don’t care anymore and I think I finally am comfortable sharing this part of me with you all… It doesn’t matter if you think this is how I always really was and finally you can tell for sure, or if it’s just a new aspect that you’re starting to know even though you’ve known me for several years by now… This is just ‘doing what I feel is the right thing’.


Altruism, self sacrificing behavior… It all sounds like a hero’s description, characteristics of a fictional character taken from a comic book or a movie, a TV series, or even a cartoon. It’s so rare to identify those values and principles in a person, that just makes you think about how human we really are or what’s the truth behind the concept we are used to call “Human Nature”.


I’m just so amazed with the fact that human beings have this amazing capacity to discern good from bad and think about what’s right and wrong… But at the same time have this marvelous capacity to almost always choose to do the easy, wrong and bad thing… Doesn't it show what kind of fucked upside down world we live in when doing the right thing is a rarity…??


I know for a fact that I’m a person without the dilemma of doing the right thing or the fair thing… I always try to do the right thing every chance I get, because for me, the right thing should be always fair if being truly right… I consider myself a free thinker… And I think that with all my sarcasm and ironic sense of humor, I’m the kind of person that expects the best from people even though that I know for a fact that most of the people will come up with some fucked up shit… You may ask yourself, well if you know that’s like a fact… Why you keep hoping for the best from people…? It’s simple; I try to give my best by doing the right thing every chance I get… So, if I do this, what motive do I have to think that I’m the only one who thinks this way…??


I keep hoping for a day to come… A day when human beings start acting really human, it’s not like I hope for some magic day where the stars align themselves and people just start being good all of a sudden… I mean, wouldn’t it be great when a day comes and people would just start thinking for themselves…?? Religion and instilled education or thinking paradigms aside…?? A day when people will stop instilling their bigotry and hatred into their children and teaching them how to think for themselves…??


I know there’s a breach when speaking about right and wrong, and somewhere down the road, human basic needs conform a major issue to establish a balance on justifying some facts that could be specified as “morally challenged but in that case socially accepted”, and that’s why we’re not touching those cases… This is not the United Nations people, it’s just a blog. So I’m referring to high school kids bullying smaller kids, I’m talking about racial, social, sexual and ethnic discrimination, I’m talking about friendship and loyalty… The kind of things that most people go through in life as kids, and shape the numbed individuals we are today…


Typical case: boy meets girl, boy likes girl, friend of boy meets girl through the boy, girl likes boy’s friend, boy’s friend doesn’t necessarily like girl, girl makes a move on boy’s friend, friend of boy takes advantage of situation and sleeps with girl, girl and friend of boy start dating, boy finds out through random person… Result = friendship ruined.


I mean, a lot of people can think of it as “Hormones” or immaturity… I call it both plus being a lousy friend and a nasty person… I mean, friend of boy never liked the girl in the first place, so why ruin the friendship…?? Or friend of boy is really that stupid to think that he can have it both ways…?? Do the right think and tell the girl NO and be a good friend… Or on the other hand, tell boy first before anything happens and then be with girl… Be honest… Why is it so difficult…?? How many cases that you know of didn’t match the first scenario…??


Let me be clear on something… I know I’m not some kind of Mahomet/Gandhi/Christ… Actually I can be a spiteful dick with my sarcasm, ironies and bad temper… But I just don’t have it in me to be hurtful or evil spirited. Let’s get real, maybe I’m used to tease my friends and call them names or make pranks on them… But that’s just my twisted, sick and coward little way to show you that I care about you, that I like and enjoy being your friend and mostly that I appreciate you… But I always make sure for you to know that I’m joking with you, that I’m kidding you because I’m emotionally fucked up and that’s my way of showing that I care… Of course, the way I tease you is going to be directly linked to the way you take it… Mostly, the things I’ll tease you about are the very same things that I like the most about you, and that’s also a fact.


On the other hand, at the time that you fuck me up, or you fuck up the friendship we have, I’m going to tell you in the most diplomatic way and with all of my energy focused into my emotional intelligence in order not to yell or get torn up, that I’m done and why… I’m going to make sure that you know that we’re done… And before saying goodbye I’m going to make you one last favor, maybe the most important favor you’ll receive in your life… I will tell you why in order to keep you from making the same mistake twice.


Let me tell you something about doing the right thing… It sucks… Nobody knows about you doing the right thing, only you know that, maybe some friend that found out the real reason why you did this thing or that, but no one else, and about that friend…?? You’ll never find out about him knowing your little secret because he’s going to respect your wishes on not telling anyone and remain quiet, so it’s not like you’re going to have somebody to talk to about how much it sucks doing the right thing… Most people will think you’re a son of a bitch for doing this or that, without really knowing why you did it or without even considering if you had no other options… You end up being some kind of unknown martyr, because let’s face it, it’s not like you’ll end up being recognized as some kind of new age Nelson Mandela or Boutros Boutros Ghali… And if you do end up being known for your action, what makes you think people will actually give a crap about it…?? Hell, I mean, doing the wrong thing will bring you more pleasure… Perhaps… The thing is you’ll never know… What you’ll know for sure is that doing the right thing sucks… And maybe, that’s why most people end up taking the highway, making the easy choices, doing the wrong turns or just doing things as long as there’s something in it for them… Zero altruism, zero self sacrificing attitudes…


I’m a moody person, and sometimes I just wake up hating people for being the way they are, for taking always the easy way out of things, for discriminating against others, for governments like ours. It makes me mad to realize that human nature is not about being noble and altruistic, but about being opportunistic, superficial and scared...


It's a good thing to hope for, a world where people learn to be free thinkers, but I don't know if things will ever change enough to where people will stop instilling their bigotry and hatred into their children. You'd think by now that people would have already gotten past so much of the prejudice that's out there, but it continues to manifest, in one form or another. First it was women, then Muslims and Jews, then blacks, now gays get the same treatment. History just keeps repeating itself, so I don't know if there's a high chance for things to change. Just the group that’s discriminated against seems to change.


For me…?? Don’t get me wrong… I question myself from time to time, asking myself if I’m the only one who’s dumb enough to put my friends and family before myself once in a while… Am I stupid enough to keep an open mind and an altruistic attitude hoping to receive the same in return sometime…?? Then again, I can’t be the only one who feels this way… But in the end, it’s simple… I keep thinking the way I do about it all because I just refuse to become that very same thing that I detest…


It’s like Michael Jackson (RIP) says on Man in the Mirror… “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change…” So, I’ll stick to my word and do the right thing… What about you…?? Let’s make a deal… You’ll do the right thing sticking to your end of the bargain as long as I stick to mine…?? Does it help to motivate you enough knowing you’re not going be the only one…??

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario