Ideology
Daily Meditation #155–7/27/2022
What is “good?”
And then, what is “good” FOR you?
What is “bad?”
What is “bad” for you?
And, what is “good” for your spouse? You may be able to answer this somewhat.
Well, then, what about your neighbor? What is “good” for them? Maybe you know a little.
Then what is “good” for someone in the next town over, selected at random?
You are probably shrugging.
How about someone the next state over?
Someone the next country over?
How about the unborn grandchild of the person living on the other side of the world? Do you presume to know what is “good” for them?
We hardly know what is “good” for ourselves. We are fat, dumb, and mostly unaware to how to lead our own lives.
And yet, we believe we know what is best for others.
For people in our town — similar though they are.
For people in other states in our country.
For those across oceans, subject to different history and beliefs…
You are fools to presume to know what is “good” for anyone. I am a fool, too.
But I am not so much a fool as to believe I know even an ounce what is “good” for anyone else.
Any person who insists that any one religion, political party or leader, or any other IDEOLOGY is right — “good” — for every individual is the greatest fool of them all.
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These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”
