The latter of two evils

It is said that there are two kinds of evil in this world. First there are people who do evil things. And second are the people who see evil being done but do nothing to stop it. I say that the former is bad enough, but the latter is by far the greater of the two evils. The first is a thing done by but a few people here and there. The second is done by society as a whole.

Many people like to tell themselves that they don't do evil things so they are not to blame for why the world is the way it is. But how often does it happen that you see injustices done to other people and you choose to do nothing about it? Whether its a mugging in some back alley, bullying on the playground or some form of extortion by local gangs, how often do you see things that you know are not right, but you look the other way?

Every time these crimes occur and we look the other way, we are sanctioning the behavior of the animals that perform them. We are telling the people committing them and everyone else around us that we agree with what is happening and think it is alright.

You may want to tell yourself that you are just looking out for yourself. You say it's okay. I didn't do anything wrong and I am not bad. That person who did the evil thing is. They are in the wrong.You keep your head down and hope nobody notices you. But they do notice. The person committing the evil act is empowered by your cowardice and lack of willingness to make things right. They are encouraged to continue acting in the same manner. And every other person that sees what is going on and does not do their utmost to stop what is going on perpetuates the cycle as well.

It is your moral obligation, your duty in fact, to stand up and protest when you see others performing evil acts. We, in America, the land of the free, the home of the brave, more than anywhere else, should be ashamed of allowing ourselves to be oppressed by anyone, especially after the lengths that our forefathers went to in order to ensure our freedom from such tyranny.

Find others that see what is going on and are also not okay with it. Band together and confront the evildoer(s). Take whatever measures are necessary to correct things.

Whenever possible work within the limits of the law. But if the law is on the side of wrong, you must do what is right, both for yourself and for those you care about.You may get beaten up. You may in fact get killed. But is life really worth living under the thumb of oppression, being controlled by the whims of evil men? If you cannot hold your head up high and be proud that you are willing to fight for what you believe in, aren't you already dead in your heart and mind?

How much control do you give away?

People say, the most important thing in the world is freedom, especially people that do not have it. But here, in the land of the free, we tend to give up most of that freedom to other people. Now I'm not talking about some of our laws being too prohibitive, because we actually do need laws to help govern ourselves. And if we did not have them, things would be absolute chaos.

No, what I am talking about is peer pressure due to public opinion. It is quite natural to want to be liked. What is not natural is allowing the fear of not being liked to make your decisions for you. But, we as a people, do it all the time.

We rush out to buy all the latest fashion trends and learn the lingo of our peer groups just so we can  be accepted. We say it's because we like those things that we assimilate them into our life. The truth is we see that other people think they are cool and we want to be cool, so we do them.

Do you realize that every single time you do that, you are allowing someone else to control what you do? You are not making a decision for yourself. You are letting others decide for you. We do this without thinking about what we want or what we would like. We just clone what other people are doing.

I have a friend who is a rather extreme example of this. It's not what you think though. He doesn't follow all the latest trends and listen to the cool hip music. Nope. He's decided that he is all about originality and being different from the masses. Anything cool and popular, he automatically chooses the polar opposite of. He will actually go out of his way to avoid doing something that he has heard is popular.

So if the cool in thing was to wear a black shirt with thin white stripes, he would wear a white shirt with thin black stripes. That's cool and awesome right? He's being his own person and not letting anyone tell him how to dress!

Being a nonconformist does not make one original. It just changes the criterion used to let other people control you. One could actually prevent my friend from doing something that he would really enjoy doing, just by making it popular.

Also, different styles and trends fit each person's inner self in different ways. IF you want to be truly free, stop letting other people tell you what is cool and what is not. Sample a variety of different ways of being and find the one that works for you. As new ideas and styles come out, test them and incorporate the ones that are really part of who you are and leave the rest by the wayside.

The odds are that a lot of your choices will still fit within a specific niche, but the ways in which you are different from the epitome of that style will show your originality and ability for free thinking. You can be cool and unique at the same time.

Have both.

As young children we are encouraged to have fun, be happy, and silly and to enjoy life in general.We play lots of games, have all different kinds of toys and make friends easily.

But at some point we are told that that part of life is over and that we have to grow up. We need to get serious about learning the things that we will need in order to have a good life later.

I think that is probably what started me on my original path to rebellion. My step-dad and I always disagreed about how life worked. I refused to believe his point of view. Even now, thirty years later, I still don't agree with it.

It seems kind of stupid, to me, to be told that you have to give up a perfectly good life full of joy and happiness so that you can suffer through a bunch of stuff that you have absolutely no interest in, just so that one day you can go back to being happy again.

Why can't we have both? Grow up and be a child at the same time. Studies have shown that short breaks every thirty minutes to an hour during work or school lead to much more productive work being accomplished, both in volume and quality.

While I may be fairly good at it, in general, I have no interest in being an adult. I want to spend my time playing games, reading and going on adventures. And I bet you do too. Learning new things is enjoyable to me just so that I can find other things that are fun to do and other people to do them with. Teaching is fun for me because I like seeing the inner child in others light up when it learns something new.

We all have responsibilities as adults, things that we cannot get away from. And yes, some of those things do actually require us to be serious and disciplined. A lot of them don't though. And why shouldn't we have fun at every other possible moment where we are not required to be a grown up?
Besides, the end goal isn't real for any of us until we reach it. Until then now is the only time that ever matters. Why suffer through now after now after now that is simply crappy because you aren't allowed to have fun?

If the matter isn't death or the loss of some big account at work, live a little. Be serious when you have to, have fun when you don't. Hold both. Make all your nows as enjoyable as you can until you are done being an adult. And then be a kid all the time.

I mean isn't that really what being rich is about? The freedom to do what you want when you want? We should cram as much joy and happiness into each moment of life as we possibly can. And isn't that what the child within all of us really wants?