Good to be Good?

One question that has always been haunting me from very early days of my life is - "Is it good people's planet or bad people's?". Both of them get success, happiness, peace of mind and all good things in life. There are people who remain good against all odds till the end and don't enjoy any good thing other than a good feeling that they would go to heaven. Likewise, there are the worst of the breed people who enjoy every good thing possible in their lifetime. Having seen all such lives, I have also told my loved ones, "You can't live in this society if you are too good!", just like how my well wishers told me.

At the same time, you can't say that life is good for only the bad ones and bad for all good people. If you do bad things, you would surely get caught one day. Instead, it is better to be good though you may have to compromise on a luxurious life. You will never have to get caught and feel embarrassed. And, you can't say all bad people get caught, too. There are some smart ones that never get caught throughout. Even if they get caught, they don't find anything embarrassing in it. There are also good people who get caught for things that they haven't done.

We don't need philosophies such as "There is nothing called good or bad. It all depends on how you view things!", "Good for you is bad for me and bad for you is good for me!", etc. The ones who generally don't hurt others for their livelihood and do something good to others whenever possible could be called good. Additionally, you can say that the ones who obey the law of the land and don't commit anything that is considered to be a crime. Those who spoil others' lives for their livelihood could be called bad people. You could say, once they get out of their house in the morning, before coming back home in the night, they would spoil a good number of families' livelihood and get whatever is required for their family. They don't care about law. They do everything that is considered to be unlawful by an average human being and have justifications for all of them.

I also get a question - Is there a possibility that this world would have only good people some day? Or, is it not at all possible? As of now, I think it's not at all possible. Why? I believe that good habits and behaviors or ethics should come in heredity or should be taught right from infant-hood. That means the current bad people can never send good things through their genes to their children; nor will they teach them after birth. They would only teach that it's of no use to be too good on this planet.

One of the recent thoughts that is gaining momentum in the corporate world when the businesses are becoming big is that only those who do business with good ethics would last long and others would get lost soon. I don't know if it is right or wrong. But, it is good to speak like that for the benefit of this planet. That is the basis on which all mature societies teach their kids. That is the reason many big companies speak such philosophies outside and do something else inside. This is what I say often. Even the bad people have to pretend to be good if they want to have a smoother life. Isn't that enough to prove that being good is superior to being bad?

As a result of this kind of a thought, not just the people who pretend to be good, even people like us who believe everything that we hear is right, have started living like that hoping that that would get a lot of returns. As the science, technology and philosophy mature more and more, what would happen is that even the ones on the other side of the fens would start coming this side hoping that that would help them grow faster. Mind you - We would do it because that would give us faster growth. Not because we want to remain good just for the sake of it. Are we fools to change ourselves with no expectations? If at all it's proved that that is the formula for success, there is a possibility that this world would become full of good people after many centuries.

Leaving all these aside, there are people who remain good till the end just for the sake of it and to have peace of mind. According to them, "I don't have the abilities to handle the problems that I would face if I become bad. I am comfortable handing the problems that I am facing for being good. So, let me remain good forever!". Or, they say, "I don't care about what the result is... what the benefits are... etc. I have been taught to live like this or I believe that a human being should live like this. So, let me be like this!". Isn't it a good thought too?

"Why should I waste my life thinking about a problem that I would face sometime later or may not even face? If it comes, let me face it then. That too, only if I think it's an embarrassment it's an embarrassment. If I am mature (!) enough to see that also as a part of life, I wouldn't have any problem!" is the other lot's thought process. Even that sounds attractive, right? Though we can't call it a 'good' strategy! They are asking, "Why would you want to lead a miserable life if you could lead a luxurious one by being little more flexible?"

There is another problem. Many people are good only when they are surrounded by bad people. When there are only good people around, some of them take up the role of bad people. Some people say, "It's too bad to be too good. If you are too good, you are the one who gives room for bad people!". That's right too. They would start thinking, 'When he is so foolish himself, why should I not cheat him?'. When the foolish ones realize that, they get alert. Then that becomes a cycle. When the whole world strives to become good, there could be a setback in this form also.

I don't like generalizing things. Even then, on an average, you can say that people from a particular family is better or worse than people from some other family, right? The same could be applied for a street, town, area, state and country. You can't say that all people from a street, town, area, state or country are better or worse than all people from another street, town, area, state or country. But, on an average, one could be better or worse than the other. It's acceptable as per the law of averages.

It is on that premises that we talk about Indus valley civilization, Mesopotamian civilization, Greek civilization, Western civilization, this civilization, that civilization, etc. Another irony is that the people who were so civilized many centuries back are like barbarians now and those that were like barbarians are very civilized now. So, you can't say if all would remain like how they are now. If there could be such huge changes in civilization, you can't rule out the possibility of even those who are getting civilized going in reverse direction after some time.

If it's proved that human beings could live in Mars, those who relocate there first, should ensure that all those who are accompanying them and those who are going to join them later are good people by conducting enough tests. At least their planet would be free from all problems, crimes and sins of ours. At a time when the terrorist activities are gaining momentum everywhere, most of the western countries are doing the same thing now in the name of visa verification. If the all those who go to Mars also do the same thing, they wouldn't have to deal with the difficulties of multiple personality issues, i.e. being good with good people and bad with bad people.

Otherwise, it's also a good idea to send all the bad people to Mars. Those who remain here could be peaceful. That's how people were exiled to Andaman and Australia those days, I guess. Only now do I understand the rationale behind that idea. Those who have an alternate lifestyle to the average people should be in a different place, which is what is safe for the majority of averages. One doesn't have to die to see the hell. It is on this planet itself in different names. Even prisons are such things, right?

I am reminded of an Aldous Huxley's quotation that I read long back - "Maybe this world is another planet's hell!".