When I was little, I thought of the world
as black and white. There were shaded sides, and there were spotless sides.
Everything either good or bad.
Now, I can't make the same claim any more.
There are aspects of life that cannot be classified as always good or always
evil, and that is because life is incredibly subjective. There is no real way
to be objective. Not ever. Not in any circumstance. The United States has
crafted a judicial system based on supposed "unbiased" jurors. In
reality, however, those individuals, pulled from their daily lives by dreaded
"jury summons", will actually reach their decisions based on their
own experiences. What is right for one person is wrong for another. Nobody
can step outside of his own head and make a decision.
So what is to be the deciding factor in
decision-making? Can we rely on our emotions to provide the right answer to any
situation? Although we are often told by the world, by the media, are we really
the ones in control of our own lives?
If a boy is killed in an accident by a
distracted driver and the father's emotions drive him to
take vengeance on the absentminded motorist, is that the right thing
to do? Are our hearts really capable of serving justice?
The answer is no.
No, we are not capable of making the right
decision. No, we do not automatically default to what is ethical and pure. In
fact, the very opposite is true. From the beginning of time, mankind has
struggled with its tendency to fall into ruin when left alone. Every time we
get it in our heads that we are the ones in control, that we are the ones who
call the shots, who make or break a situation, that is when we fall. Power is a
drug, but it is also a fantasy. The problem is we convince ourselves that we
have it in overdose and that it is up to us to keep injecting it.
Truth is, the world really is in black and
white. There really is a right and a wrong answer. And life, well, that’s
just us trying to find out what exactly it is.
