As Astreja said - I have had my share of revenge fantasies. And I have made plans to take revenge that I simply did not act on. I cannot say that's because I was behaving as a "good" person, or that my conscience took over. It was a combination of fear of getting caught with simple . . . lack of energy to follow through.
I studied for 30 years at a karate school. We were quite literally taught how to kill another human beings - hundreds of ways. We also had group discussion sessions to talk about what would happen IF . . . Working with that type of violence and fear and self-protection also taught most of us to look at the possible consequences of our actions. I had a teacher who went to Thailand to study Muy Thai and get in the ring and fight. I saw a thoughtful, gentle, caring, controlled man turn into something very scary for those 5 rounds. I asked him, afterward, how it felt. What made him get in that ring. (No, I'm not talking about competition or strategy. I'm talking about - wanting to physically maim another human being.) He said that it was very instructive to "let the monster out occasionally - and then put him back in his cage". To look at a piece that exists in all of us - the animal that is capable of killing under certain circumstances. Parents understand this. All you have to do is ask them what they would do if they caught a stranger harming their child. The gentlest, most logical, most pacifistic Mom you know will respond "I would kill the sonofabitch." That's literal.
So I find answering the question "am I a good person" - a little challenging. I try to treat people with respect. I try to listen, I try to cause no harm. The universal "golden rule" seems to be in play most of the time.
But I have also seen the nasty side of humanity. I have been a "victim". Which means that I have also honestly said, once or twice, that I understand why some people take guns into a crowded venue and start shooting. That feeling of being mistreated and that everyone you see is going to stab you in the back - - that one's a bitch to get past. But I also get completely distraught if I cause others pain. I hit a squirrel with my car last week and cried off and on most of the day because of it. So you have a total wussy marshmallow who has actually considered shooting up a crowd. Is this a sign of insanity?
Am I a caring person? Yes. Am I a good listener? Yes. Am I empathetic? Most of the time. I think empathy is essential for humanity. I tend to think "bad person" is usually someone selfish, who thinks of other people as just things to be used. Am I a good person? I'm a human being with my own crappy history who is trying to be a good person.
I studied for 30 years at a karate school. We were quite literally taught how to kill another human beings - hundreds of ways. We also had group discussion sessions to talk about what would happen IF . . . Working with that type of violence and fear and self-protection also taught most of us to look at the possible consequences of our actions. I had a teacher who went to Thailand to study Muy Thai and get in the ring and fight. I saw a thoughtful, gentle, caring, controlled man turn into something very scary for those 5 rounds. I asked him, afterward, how it felt. What made him get in that ring. (No, I'm not talking about competition or strategy. I'm talking about - wanting to physically maim another human being.) He said that it was very instructive to "let the monster out occasionally - and then put him back in his cage". To look at a piece that exists in all of us - the animal that is capable of killing under certain circumstances. Parents understand this. All you have to do is ask them what they would do if they caught a stranger harming their child. The gentlest, most logical, most pacifistic Mom you know will respond "I would kill the sonofabitch." That's literal.
So I find answering the question "am I a good person" - a little challenging. I try to treat people with respect. I try to listen, I try to cause no harm. The universal "golden rule" seems to be in play most of the time.
But I have also seen the nasty side of humanity. I have been a "victim". Which means that I have also honestly said, once or twice, that I understand why some people take guns into a crowded venue and start shooting. That feeling of being mistreated and that everyone you see is going to stab you in the back - - that one's a bitch to get past. But I also get completely distraught if I cause others pain. I hit a squirrel with my car last week and cried off and on most of the day because of it. So you have a total wussy marshmallow who has actually considered shooting up a crowd. Is this a sign of insanity?
Am I a caring person? Yes. Am I a good listener? Yes. Am I empathetic? Most of the time. I think empathy is essential for humanity. I tend to think "bad person" is usually someone selfish, who thinks of other people as just things to be used. Am I a good person? I'm a human being with my own crappy history who is trying to be a good person.
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein
