Methods of Execution

Often times I reflect on what can be considered “good”, and I keep coming to the same conclusion that it’s hard to define what it might be. So I began to think that a part of it has to do with the methods of execution with which deeds are done. When I hear the word “good” my mind conjures up people that are genuine, pure, and with honorable intentions. But then I reflected and realized that there can be people that believe they fit that description, and that they are causing no harm to anyone. They feel passionately about their plan of action and truly assume that they are doing people a favor. I look at the news and it stuns me how many murders there have been, but recognize that some of the killers are under the impression that they are doing it “for the greater good”. They have managed to convinced themselves that they are not committing a crime, but rather are making the world a better place. These can be described as people with “good intentions”, because that is what they believe themselves to be. One cannot get an inside look into another person’s mind so we can’t accurately characterize the person they are dependent on what they did. Yes, based on our own morals or values we can see these events as cruel, unjust, and evil. But the reality is not everyone will have the same perspective, and the person who did something atrocious can be completely convinced that they are heroes. On a somewhat less intense scale, I find the hispanic culture to be interesting and perplexing at times.The parents have their own “style” of determining how to teach and advise their children. My parents can be quite close minded and firm in their own beliefs. The manner in which they want me to learn can be excessive. They would prefer for me to be more like them and I’m simply not. They don’t realize that their methods of wanting to help me are not the right means. I do not begrudge them though because I have taken it as a learning experience. There are similarities and differences between different cultures and I understand that in their hearts and minds, they believe to have “good” intentions. Even if the approach that is taken could be improved. This is why I add that a person should be compassionate, caring, and understanding. But couldn’t even that be argued?

Good and Evil

“I define a ‘good person’ as somebody who is fully conscious of his or her own limitation. They know their strengths, but they also know their ‘shadow’—they know their weaknesses,” said by John Bradshow, a famous America educator. “Good” is a term used in the world for more than ten centuries. Sometimes we think we know “good” explicitly, but mostly we don’t. For me, good is a term always couple with evil. Good and evil are inseparable. If you want to be good, you should first polarize good and evil by learning what is good as well as what is evil.

One of the best examples used to illustrate my idea of good is Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in the village of Mveza on 18 July 1918. His father died and his young Rolihlala became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni when Mandela was 12 years old. After Mandela graduated from University, he fought for non-racial constitution. On 11 June 1964, Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in Robben Island. Later Mandela was not even allowed to attend his mother’s funerals in 1968. In 1990, Mandela was released after the prohibition of the ANC and the PAC. After he was released, he did not feel hatred to the whole. Instead, he felt grateful. Why? Because he had already experienced the evil throughout his whole life. He knew the limitation and strength of both good and evil. He felt comfortable and calm to his life, his country and more importantly, his faith. He is good!

To be good is not simply to be innocent and positive. On the other hand, to be good is to be experienced and calm under any situation.

Personal good and common good

There are no absolutely good or bad in this world. It is too extreme to talk about one things is really good or bad, because everything has two sides, one is good one is bad. People could only determine good or bad depended on that the whether advantage is bigger than disadvantage. 

I believe there are two kinds of good, personal good and common good. Such as technologies as we mentioned in the class, although it makes our life more convenience, it causes certain human abilities becoming limited. Whether it is benefit to people’s life is depended on how people view it. If someone thinks it is benefit, then the disadvantage became less important because he or she only care about it makes life easier. If somebody valued the disadvantage more important to them, then the technology is bad. So whether one thing good or bad is depended on how a person think about it.

In this situation, the good is personal good. However, there are public good which people need to sacrifice something for it. For example, the security check in the airport which needs people sacrifice their privacy for their safety because the scan could see the whole body of a person. However, in order to make sure everyone’ s personal safety and public safety, people must accept the scan before they enter the building. Although people lost their personal privacy, they have their safety at this time. Therefore, in order to keep the common good, people need to sacrifice some individual things. 

The Balance between Extremes

"Good" is a word commonly used in life. However, when come to the question "what is Good", I still cannot give a exact and holistic answer with certainty. I can only start by eliminating what is evil.

During the presentation of everyone's Utopia, I notice that freedom to express individuality without doing harm to others is often included in the ideology. I think this Good in a large sense. A lot of existing crimes and evilness are founded on external motivations - money, power, claiming ownership, sense of being better than others - in which people are too caught up in these extraneous factors that they ultimately neglect and forget about themselves. The realization of these goals can not lead to anything beyond, and people often feel lost after such accomplishments. That is why "Money cannot buy happiness".

What's more, in pursuing external worth, people unavoidably inflict their own ideology upon others. As the existences of good and bad are dependent upon each other, the controversial ethical issues all have two sides to their arguments. Evil occurs when crossing over the line of fairness and moderation. Hunting itself is a natural step in the food chain just like any predators hunt preys. However, when people started to hunt out of pleasure and trade instead of basic needs, the balance is broken and hunted species become in danger. The same goes for designer babies. This technology can be of significant merit if it is conducted only to eliminate disease carried in genes; however, it will inevitably be used to satisfy the expectation of parents once it is developed.

Therefore, on the opposite side of all that, Goodness is when people focus on the wellbeing and intrinsic worth of themselves, while not placing their own interests over that of others. It is the balance point between extremes. But this balance is ultimately impossible to maintain. As in the movie Traitor, even though Cheadle intends to carry out the objective of peace, once done, the consequences of the actions are not within his control and he still gets blood in his hand.

A worldly argument

    There are two kinds of good: the one that benefits you and the one that benefits others. Sometimes they overlap, but most of the time they are the opposite. The two kinds of good both have flaws because they are mixed with personal feelings, desires, greed, and selfishness. Personal good is often attacked because as it satisfies the minority’s need, it hurts the majority’s interest. Trophy hunting is an example of personal good. People who organize the hunting activity think it is a way to protect the environment, while people who do not hunt consider it to be a ridiculous explanation. In this context, trophy hunting satisfies the minority’s desire to kill, but because the majority doesn’t approve it, it is considered to be a “bad” activity. Compare to personal good, what the majority think is “good” appears to be more controversial. Female circumcision is no doubt an inhuman treatment to women, but in certain areas in Africa, most people see it is a ritual to keep women “clean”. In this context, circumcised women are minorities. They are hurt because the majority consider circumcision to be a good thing. This is also the reason why it takes longer to stop rituals like female circumcision. 

    However, there is also a kind of good that sacrifices one’s own interest but benefits all. Gandhi used hunger strike as a method of nonviolent protest to enhance peace. His action seems to be universal good, but is this the truth? Good cannot be obtained without bad. If something is good to a certain group of people, then it is definitely bad to the other group. It is impossible to build a utopian society because there is no universal good. Everyone want different benefits from the utopian society, but things they like can be harmful to others. 

    There is a good that is often neglected. It is the law of nature. Everything has an important position in nature. They all grow and die follow this simple law. There’s no good or bad, because no one interferes with the law for their own benefit. If people just follow the way life should be and do not desire, they will live a content and equal life. But because humans cannot stop desiring, good or bad will still be a worldly argument. 

What is good?

There are more than one answer, the answer to it is really flexible. There are many ways to define what is good. At the beginning of this chapter, I define “good” as something in your heart that is willing to help others and also not being self-centered. But after several classes, I change my mind and define good as something you think is good is good. Everyone has their own way to judge whether it’s good or not. For example, the trophy problem, asking whether you’re going to hit the five workers or turn on the switch and hit only one. To me there’s no right answer to this questions, because people always give explanations to persuade others to think that your choice is better. Just be a good person and do things that you think is right but don’t ever waste time to prove it.

Another way for us to approach “what is good” is to think about “what is bad”. Before we really find out what is good, we sometimes needs to think about what is bad instead. People tend to learn bad things faster and easier. For example, when we are discussing whether automation will bring more positive or negative affect, first thing I think of is the negative affect that automation will bring. Nowadays people rely on technology and this is a big issue but on the other hand it brings us efficiency and convenience. We tend to learn more from the negative side but always remember the positive side because “every single movement that happened to you, always teach you about goodness” (Labshor Ahmad).

The Ties Between the Good and the Bad

  
     As light is defined by everything that is not darkness, goodness can be described as an action or thing that defies all that is bad. But just as light cannot exist without darkness, good is dependent on the bad. Without the presence of sin and the wicked, the term “good” will apply itself to everything, eventually losing all meaning.

    Good and bad do not exist in a world as simplistic as that of a Disney movie, because actions and intentions defines what something or someone is. Since people and things do a multitude of different activities, we are all a mixture of ethical and unethical, good and bad. Even the gods and goddesses of ancient Rome fall prey to this theory. For example, Zeus, the king of the gods, was idolized for his power over the skies and weather and his heroic actions, but he was also known for his infidelity and his temper that could result in one being swallowed. Similar to Zeus and the other gods, people tend to sin as well as do good work.

    It is impossible to do only good actions because what is good for one person could affect another in a negative way. For example, the expansion of Germany prior to and during World War II benefited the Germans through land, resources and pride, but it cost thousands of people their lives. Some people may argue that saints, such as Mother Teresa or even Jesus, were good people, and what they are saying is mostly true. But despite their abundance of good deeds, they all sinned. Jesus lied by omission of the truth to his parents when he ran away to the temple, and even Mother Teresa must have given her parents a difficult time without sufficient reason. Goodness and badness exist in everyone and everything; it is nature.

    In conclusion, I would like to mention that I think that people and things can overall be “good”, but because actions define who we are, I think that they have parts of them that are inherently bad as there are in every person and thing.