I think back over the years and the people I know and I have seen very good people taken advantage of by people who are extremely selfish. When you question them everything seems to get escalated. At the end of the day all their activities bank in their favor and there are no exceptions (There never is unless they risk losing something). There is no reasoning with this level of inconsideration. It does open a can of worms about what we really value in society beyond what we say to please others; what is the essence of a man's (woman's) soul?
Our legal structure should start thinking more about values and why its not acceptable for some people to force their will and needs on other people. Saying "no" shouldn't end in all types of atrocities. It is those people who stand up for something greater that are better for society but often they are swept aside for convenience and the loudest voices in the room. We are all too willing to accept the lower in replacement of the higher.
Takers will always be takers I guess (givers are probably always givers 🤷). You can't change that. The only thing you can do is stand up and provide support for those struggling. They must make the decision to enforce their boundaries but we should be there to help them when they do and encourage them to think about the best paths forward. Beyond simple words of encouragement our legal structure must do more to ensure we are following some basic rules in society and not giving the upper hand to the profane.
It sounds a little jaded I guess but I suspect around 60% of people are on the self consumed side. 20% are seriously selfish and will stop at nothing to get things they want. 70% of people aren't generally selfish as long as the stakes are low and the gains are little (It seems like the percentages don't work but they sort of do because they are different ideas.). 5% of people would willingly commit genocide if they were going to be praised for it. Perhaps 10% have deeper values beyond lip service and less then 1% are moral lions.
In our modern legal system its all about secondary things such as attorneys, social standing, money and influence (🤮). Many of our societal leaders have displayed the same selfishness with the lives of others and thus we can expect little difference from the general population that emulates these behaviors (We say we have values but people intuitively know that there is selfishness involved in most decisions. We are are hardwired to know genuine from disingenuous. Most of us don't listen to that inner value system/voice.).
We have to change the legal structure and the type of leaders we choose to reorient our society toward pro-social outcomes and the value of human life. I scratch my head at the ignorance as some people giggle at how "idealist" I am. Yes...I'm probably a fool to think there should be basic rules and people could be better then they are.
Such values could lead to a higher functioning society across multiple venues such as business, social cohesion, human development, international influence, and economic growth. (Depends on how you define the term fool and how much you understand the interconnected nature of society and how economics and neuroeconomic choices are related to values and perceptions both engrained and culturally learned from one generation to the next. Cottage of a Thousand Years.).
Beyond the legal structure we should start thinking about who we are as a society and what type of leaders we want to promote. People who walk when they do bad stuff and leaders who always want to win at all costs (Even if it destroys society). It becomes a value thing (We find this in just about every society but some have the capacity to limit them through the power of institutional support.) Its a societal issue, something engrained in us, and we are unable to shake it (Why we create a legal structure in the first place when the first codes were written.). The better society we build the more likely we are going to develop positive values and greater alignment between actual value of people and their rewards.
A couple of interesting quotes that many would find worthless....
“Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.” – Socrates
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” – Plato
“Wait for the wisest of all counselors to judge you . . . time.” —Pericles
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