GOOD BAD PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS
At your core, are you a good person or a bad person? Western Philosophers, beginning with Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, have asked and answered this question through twenty four centuries. And the answer is? It matters not what others answer. It is an individual’s question. You look at yourself in a mirror, straight in the eyes, and ask; am I good or am I bad? You then make your decision based on the power of your individual intellect.
In America, the folkways and mores of the culture started with the philosophical premise that you are good while not ignoring the possibility that you could do bad things. The founding document of the American Republic, the Declaration of Independence, enumerated a long list of bad things that the King of England was visiting upon his subjects. This document was followed by a very short set of rules and covenants, the Constitution, which is the basis for the laws of the land. The laws, as codified, were strongly influenced by Judeo Christian beliefs but also contained secular provisions based on philosophies outside theocratic thought. The key recurring refrain throughout the founding documents is individual freedom and liberty. This is why, in the Republic of the United States of America, you are free to look in the mirror and make up your own mind as to your goodness.
Contrast this philosophy with those that are prevalent almost everywhere else. You will submit to Communism, Islam, Socialism, or Fascism as your ticket to drawing your next breath and your measure of individual freedom and liberty will be smaller than two figs.
So I hope that the young woman, who spit in the face of two soldiers, who had just completed a tour defending her individual freedoms sees a reflection in her mirror soon. God knows, honey, you look like the Devil.
