Is "The Greater Good" A Myth?

_{Ketut Subiyanto}

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We have always heard the saying being tossed about, either in movies or in novels. Hell, we even hear it in real life from time to time, talking about how people do the things they do “for the greater good.”

Many times, people will do unexplainable things, things that defy all forms of logic. Some might even do outright evil things and then they will cover it all up with “it’s for the greater good.” As if that was supposed to make it all better. Making it seem like in these cases, the ends justify the means, no matter the cost that it takes to get there. So, this begs to ask, what exactly is the greater good? Is it even possible? Or is it just another myth people use to carry out what is on their mind?

Most of the time, when people make use of “the greater good” phrase, it is usually because they are acting selflessly. Or they are trying to show that they are acting selflessly, and for the greater good means that if they succeed, everyone would benefit. Not just them.

But with the way the world is today, can we ever have a greater good? Is it possible to live in a world without problems? It would probably be, that is if all humans lost their minds and became thoughtless zombies. Then we would really have no more troubles. Throughout time, man has always been man’s biggest problem. It is Man that makes life difficult for his fellows, and all this is because the free will you enjoy is the same free will everyone enjoys as well.

_{Keira Burton}

There is this comedian (Brainjotter, I think. I’m no longer sure) who said something in one of his skits, “life no hard, na people just wicked.” Loosely translated, it means that “life is not difficult, people are just wicked.” And I saw the wisdom in that.

Because mother nature gives everyone opportunities, it should be something simple. Go out, get food and eat and then reproduce. But as there are variety, some are born stronger than others, more beautiful than others, richer than others, even smarter than others. So even if we all have the same resources, the results we get would be very different. It is all these varieties that lead to Man being wicked and mean to his fellow man.

So, will there ever be a time when everyone on earth will just decide to only think good thoughts and not think ill of his fellow man? Is that truly possible? Because when I think of the greater good, that is what comes to mind.

There are those who will outright think evil of their fellows, for no reason other than the fact that they are evil themselves and they just can’t bear to be around happiness or good things. And there are those who believe they alone know what is right and wrong and feel they must impose on the rest of the world their beliefs. Because it is their calling, the massive weight of knowledge. And they will be willing to go to any length to instill this, even taking means that are not so right. And then, there are those who are only just interested in minding their business and living their lives.

_{Miriam Alonso}

With all these kinds of people mixed up in the world, is it possible there will never be problems? As long as people have a free mind of their own, as long as people are prone to temptations, and as long as people have emotions, then we would keep on having issues. The fight against evil never stops, it is a war that we all were born into and when we die it would still be raging.

But in this fight, there are different battles, and we can console ourselves by winning it one at a time. We might never win the war, but if we focus on the battles around us, we might just be able to secure victory.

So, my dear friends, there are always opportunities for us to do good around us. We don’t have to wait until things are really bad, or things are really good for us before we can help out. Before you can change the world, try changing the lives of those around you, you have no idea how wide the ripple effect might go from there.

No matter how busy you are, try to do good as often as possible. Even if you will not benefit from it in any way, just do it for someone else. Make them smile and help them make their day. You will have no idea just how much you have helped them. That should be your reward, the fact that you helped put a smile on someone’s face. That should be the reason you keep going out there and doing even more good. After all, it is for the greater good.

_{Andrea Piacquadio}

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_{Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, I would love to know what you think. Till we meet in the next post.}