“Kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle.”
- Charles Glassman
A couple of months ago, I was watching a sitcom called Community, a television series about a group of adults who attend a community college in Colorado for various purposes. One person needs a degree in order to practise law again after getting disbarred, another wants to be in control of her life after her divorce and start her own business. As a matter of fact, there are six different protagonists in this show, with distinctive adventures to embark on throughout the 110 episodes.
During one of the episodes called Debate 109, two of the protagonists enter a debate contest as a team and eventually reach the finals against another local university. The two teams were given opposing positions regarding the following question: Is Mankind good or evil?
As the debate unfolds between the two teams, different examples are used to support either position on the matter. Examples that would range from NGOs to nuclear bombs, whilst passing by family shelters and world wars, and so on. Personally, if we were to formulate the initial question in a different way, I would perceive it more as trying to understand if Man is able to set their own personal interests aside for the benefit of the greater good. I understand that additional layers and subtopics would have to be elaborated in order to capture the global image of the subject at hand, however for the sake of this article, I will limit the discussion to what was mentioned a couple of sentences earlier.
I think that this is a topic that has always bothered philosophers as well as psychologists through time. After all, one could argue that the line separating the two sides is so thin that it is almost invisible. The conversation becomes even more interesting when there is an opportunity cost involved. It only makes sense that new perspectives see the light of day when there is a confirmed loss to be incurred as the result of one’s decisions. Most people often tend to visualise these situations as the choice between what is wanted against what is needed, between selflessness and selfishness. An eternal combat between two distinct and completely opposite clans. As if it were supposed to be that straightforward.
How many times have we read news or watched movies where someone would do something illegal for the sake of saving someone and the audience would be okay with that? As opposed to a law-abiding citizen who would always do the right thing, only to be shamed for being this way.
“I wander on. It might take forever, but I know I belong.” - Another Second by Late Night Thoughts
History is filled with examples of people who have left their mark on this Earth. Sometimes for all the good reasons, whereas other times it was for all the wrong reasons. It is never obvious to reach the conclusion on whether a human being is good or evil by nature, especially when several factors are involved. When someone is faced with danger, the instinct of survival kicks in and tends to become a priority. As a result, humans resort to their primitive animal behaviours, where the end of staying alive justifies the means.We start to hurt the people we supposedly cared about more than anything, even throw them under the bus in order to save our own bacon. Nothing else matters. After all, this is how everyone behaves when à catastrophe occurs, may it be a company going under, a boat exploding near the shore, or just a boss looking for the person who made a crucial mistake in a report. Then again, humans tend to surprise in a positive way as well at times.
One of my favourite Bible verses is from the book of John, which reads: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). A person who would do almost anything – even at times, die – for the people they truly care about, is already revered and admired by many. If so, how noble and full of chivalry is someone who would go the extra mile in order to save complete strangers from peril, at the expense of dying himself? One particular story that I like in order to picture some form of an answer to that last question is the one that follows..
Patrick Vincent Coleman worked at the Canadian Government Railways employ. He was killed in the Halifax Explosion in December 1917. Yet, he is remembered today as one of the heroic figures from the disaster.As a matter of fact, as he was running away from the city prior to the explosion of the French ship Mont Blanc, Coleman managed to get back to his post at the railway station in order to dispatch an urgent message. It turns out that there were trains on their way to Halifax, with an estimated time of arrival inferior to ten minutes. Trains that were full of explosive cargo as well as military divisions bound to head back to Europe to pursue the fighting in World War I. Just in the nick of time, Coleman’s direct message was broadcasted to all train lines: “Stop the trains or they will all be destroyed! This will be my last message. Farewell to you, boys!” Two thousand lives were lost on December 6, 1917, although that number could have been much higher if it had not been for this man’s heroics.
The more I think of this story, the more I admire those who have laid down their lives because they understood the task in front of them, and valued it more than their own personal benefits – even if that meant to die. So, coming back to the initial question on whether Man is good or evil, I prefer to say that we are good by nature, yet we have our imperfections and moments of weakness. The people who have marked History with atrocious moments of evil are those who have decided to rid themselves of all chivalry and proper value.
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