I just watched All the Prsident's Men with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, a 1976 movie about the journalism leading up to Nixon's resignation. Insights aside, I enjoyed the film - it was intense, but no car chases, no bullets, just deadlines. What it reminded me of was my one thing I have absolute faith in: people. A person, or a group may do bad things for a time, but people will find out, people will make it right, no matter the cost to the individuals.
It comes down to a concept of the greater good. Soldiers go to war and die for the greater good. Police officers fight crime for the greater good. People lose sight of the immediate to research cures for diseases or alternative sources of energy. I believe that there will always be people, enough people who want to do the right thing so badly that they overcome their fears. it is something I know in my bones.
So your first question should be "Why Will, do you believe in such a thing?" To that, I have no answer. I do not know why a person would sacrifice himself for a larger cause, I do not know who was the first person to start such a tradition, or why it perpetuates itself across melenia of history. The best I can offer is a guess, a guess that our purpose in life is to be happy, and that many of us understand that it isn't just oneself that is meant to be happy, but that we are all meant to be happy. That one person's discomfort is worth any two people's joy. That characteristic of understanding gives those people the extra strength that you do not see in everyone. Sometimes they appear weird, other times they are heroes. There will always be enough good in the world.
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[...] this book, as well as the predecessor, The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living after my post on The Goodness of People. The truth is that I downloaded an audio book from the SF Library, and I must say that I am [...]
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