Are people born good? At times I believed yes and at times believed not. When I am amongst people, in person, I tend to believe yes. When I encounter people online, in their anonymity and obscurity, I am not so sure. I tend to fall back on my own axiom of-
“A person is typically good, but people are typically evil”
That is to say that I believe each of us has has a tendency to appeal to our better selves, to be kind, and act in the best interest of ourselves and those around us. However, when in any sort of numbers that allow people to establish an “us vs them” mentality, we will burn everything down to allow our side to win.
Everyone commits some sort of small evil. Normally it stems from selfish tendencies or simply focusing out individual needs and not seeing the greater impact. It may be harmless or intentional, but the urge to elevate ourselves is irresistible. However, if it came with the knowledge that we were directly harming another individual, most would shy away.
Whereas in a group, there are sides, factions. Most of our rhetoric around success and even morals, especially religious and political language, focuses on victory. This implies defeating another. That sort of dealt mentality leaves no room for compromise or even coexisting. The other group must be eradicated for our ideas to flourish.
Shoplifting is a great example. From 2019 to 2023, shoplifting rates increased 93%. During this time, we created a very us vs them culture in every possible area. The haves vs have nots, the corporations vs the consumer, the ruling class vs the working class. Pick your cause. The reality is that no one feels sorry for businesses losing revenue due to shop lifting. There are tons of shortsighted excuses people are willing to make, from the difference in CEO pay vs the average worker, to the insurance a business holds that will pay for the losses.
The truth, that regardless of the excuse, the harm is done more to those more like the thief than the victim. If Target experiences high levels of losses, they have to spread that loss of profit across the whole organization, increasing prices for all. Even if those losses are covered by insurance, their insurance rates will increase, which will also be spread across the organization. A retailer as large as target has the ability to raise prices across entire sectors. Their insurance losses can also affect other businesses. Regardless, the rates go up for everyone.
Shoplifting from smaller businesses are arguably worse, but only because they affect individuals in the community. The owner of a store of even a few stores likely earns similar to the average population. A convenient store, voted most likely to be robbed, has an average of 5% profit rate. That rate will net the business $15–20k per month. Add in all the cost to maintain the business and you have an average US earner as the owner. At those numbers, you may as well be holding up an individual person.
If you were robbing someone, the average loss to individuals in burglaries in 2023 was $4,400. Let’s say they have insurance, the average deductible is $500 — $1,000. Roughly half of Americans can’t afford a $500 unplanned expense.
The fact is that as soon as someone can convince themselves that they are versus another group, all decency and fair play is off the table. People are able to shift any moral responsibility to a simple “they started it.” People are quick to fight when they think they have support to hurt someone else.
The reality is that true morality doesn’t have exceptions. Things are either right or wrong by your society’s standards. Your arguments are simply if you can feel justified and expunged from doing wrong. That doesn’t make it right, it only means you may not be punished by the authorities for it.
What will punish you is your conscience and your credibility. If humans have any inherent good, this is where it lies. Our conscience guiding us in right and wrong and the credibility we hold with our society. If we do not do things for the greater good, we do them to maintain order in our society. Here is the key question to ask if you find yourself in the conflict over right and wrong regardless of what your conscience and community punish:
If everyone did this exact same things, would it make the world better or worse?
Think about it. There are levels of consequences to our actions. First order consequences are immediate effects, touch the hot stove and burn yourself. Secon order may be you can’t play in the basketball game because your hand is burned from touching the stove. Third level may be that your team loses the game, because you weren’t there. As you proceed through levels of consequences, the effects can be delayed or even indirect, but still directly related to the decisions you make and they begin to affect others.
Most people don’t think past second or third level consequences of their actions. It gets difficult and requires more prophetic approaches to their actions. It is also subject to risk biases, but critical nonetheless.
So do I think that humans are good or bad? It depends. I like to trust until given a reason not to, while not putting much faith in anyone I don’t have to. If anyone shows signs of an “us vs them” agenda, I know that they no longer control their morality nor can I trust them to act in anyone’s interest but their own. I trust those online the least. Hiding behind anomality removes any natural consequences to act in good faith (Says the one who doesn’t release their name for fear of bad actors with dissenting opinions).
Mostly, my answer is no, people are not good, but I don’t think humans are bad because of malice, but because of a lack of courage and knowledge. Without the courage to do what is right or the knowledge to discern truth, I can’t realistically expect a person to make the right decision.
Therefore, I suppose I will continue to do what good I can. Listen to all sides, be good to people, and most of all, harm no one.
If you like what I am doing, follow me and let me know I am on the right path. If you don’t, I sincerely want to hear why.
Thanks for reading