Every person is guilty for failing to do all the good that they could and ought to have done / by kevin murray

Most people, when looking upon their own lives, like to believe that overall they are good, and certainly believe that in most instances and interactions that they have done good.  To a large degree, this is self-serving, since most people have a strong tendency to believe the best about themselves as well as their intentions; whereas, they can be rather harsh in regards to other people regarding their actions along with their supposed intent.

 

None of the above really means much of anything, because a fair judgment has to be made and can really only be made from a party that has no "skin in the game", that thereby impartially renders a fair decision, based on the information so presented and displayed.  In these cases, all those that believe that they are good, or sort of good, should, in fact, get very, very nervous, because actions, intents, words, omissions, commissions, background, and everything else of relevance has a material impact upon a decision so rendered, and most people, well-nigh all people, will probably be found to fall far short of being all that good.

 

For instance, choices are presented to us all of the time, of which, for many a person, more times than not, a selfish choice is made, which does not make that selfish choice necessarily evil; but rather, there is a strong tendency for selfish choices to be deliberately selected because it is beneficial for the self, with some slight recognition that by having done so, it has come at the expense of another decision which would have done some good for another.  Therein lies the rub, for though it might be said, we haven't directly done wrong to another, so too, we haven't directly done right to them, either; even though, we could have done right for them, but have consciously chosen not to.

 

Indeed, it is a very hard thing, to actually do all the good that we could do, and certainly a very difficult and challenging task to try to attempt, let alone, to accomplish.  Yet, it must be asked, for the question is reasonable, ought not we to do all the good that we can, if we believe that our purpose in life is to make this world a better place for us having been here?  If the answer is no, then quite obviously, you cannot be that good of a person, because those that deliberately do not do all that they could do, to be good and to do good, are clearly living within a construct in which a pretty good effort is good enough, and typically those people that believe that pretty good is good enough, live fairly comfortable lives in which primarily they don't want to see their peace and quiet disturbed.  That though, is the very problem, for the more that people have, the greater is their obligation to do good for others, because those that have the wherewithal as well as the opportunity to affect positive change but turn their backs upon doing so, should have and ought to have done so much better for others.