Even the most cursory of looks at our world and the society that we are a part of, tells us that not all is well. Indeed, there is way too much discord, injustice, selfishness, and unnecessary bad behavior exhibited day after day after day by all sorts of people, who really ought to know better. Those then, that are expecting that we are going to live in some sort of paradise anytime soon, have got to realistically recognize that this isn’t going to happen in the foreseeable future, because the trajectory of humankind becoming more civil and considerate one to the other, appears to be a change that is happening, if it is so happening, at a glacial pace.
Each of us has enough experience in our daily interactions to know what behaviors and actions would appear to be appropriate when confronted with other people that are behaving badly such as through their unrestrained anger, selfishness and lying. One response which humankind seems to draw upon again and again, is basically to respond like for like, when confronted with someone or something that troubles them. In other words, when we are threatened with the sword, our go-to response, is often to respond with our own sword, so righteously drawn. That is to say, because we believe that we are on the side of right, we are thereby entitled to use force to dispel force. Yet, how long has humankind and their governments done that very thing, and here we are, no more truly civilized, today, as we were decades upon decades ago.
So then, the right response to when we are confronted with a bad actor is seldom going to be like for like, for that isn’t progress, but it is in its effect, stagnation. This thus signifies that the right response to somebody that has unconstrained anger towards us, is to first of all, to try to listen as to what it is that has occurred and has gotten so deeply under their skin, so that our response becomes one of consideration, empathy, and kindness. Sure, that isn’t going to always work, but for a certainty, the way to put out a fire, is not going to be to add fuel to that fire, for anger is the type of thing, that takes its inevitable toll upon the person that is angry and they then will eventually run out of steam, of which, if we do our best to try to calm matters down, their anger has a tendency to dissipate more quickly.
The life that is presented to us, and the conscience that we develop, does not need to be overly complicated, for if we keep foremost in our mind that we will fundamentally be the voice of reason, as well as to develop the living discipline to recognize that goodness, kindness, love, truthfulness, and generosity are the type of vital qualities that help make for a better and more inclusive society, then we will be doing our fair part to respond to people in the most appropriate manner, so as to make our relationships to be better and more caring, and by doing so, to live by our actions and behavior, as a responsible person, so done for the betterment of the society that we are an integral part of.