Tendency Towards Good

The tendency of man’s nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. – Mencius

Not everyone would agree with this quote. Some people think that humans are inherently selfish or evil. I think they’re wrong.

People point to the newspapers and the broadcasts, showing all the murders and thefts and horrors that go on in the world. They claim this as proof that humans are awful things and that we are destined to destroy one another and ourselves.

I see it as just the opposite. The reason that horror is news is because it is unusual. Horror is horrible because it goes against the normal process of most people’s lives. If everyone witnessed a rape or a murder every day, then so what? But we don’t. While many women are being raped every day, most are not. While a lot of murders are happening every day, the number of murder victims is an infinitesimal fraction of the total number of people. Rape, murder, theft, and all other forms of “news” are not the norm. They are the aberrations. This is why they are news.

Every day, people around the world help out others. They give money and time to charities. They are kind to their neighbors. They raise their kids to be decent human beings.

“There is hope for the future” is such a pessimistic statement. It implies that things are so awful now that we have to wait for the future to be decent. Or, the person saying it means that they were so certain that the future was going to suck and now they are pleasantly surprised that it might not. For pity’s sake.

There is not just hope for the future, there is certainty. Are there more atrocities now than there were a century ago? I doubt it. Not when you factor in the increased number of people in the world. And then toss in the fact that discretion is no longer a virtue to the media. Franklin Roosevelt was never shown in his wheelchair, but we get daily updates on the colon surgery of the vice president. It’s sad. But, just because there’s more atrocities reported does not mean there are more atrocities.

The future will hold many wonderful human beings, and you are one of them.