I witnessed an interaction on Facebook on the day before I shut down my account that made me decide that it wasn't worth my time even just for networking with musicians.
There was a person on there who was utterly convinced that "nazis" deserve to be punched in the mouth and that my friend was a "nazi".
And while listening to Spellbound: Book II of the Grimnoir Chronicles on the next day, there was something a character said about another character about how they'd make a good "secret policeman in a police state".
It makes me wonder just how much people ask themselves whether they, themselves, "would make good secret policeman in a police state" if they practiced what they preached?
Do they ask themselves whether they would make a good Inquisitor during the Spanish Inquisition?
Do they deem themselves to be worthy to judge, jury, and executioner?
The claim to moral goodness often seems to imply the power to use force over others. And that's how a person gets to a point where punching so-called Nazis without any due process seems like a good idea for how to organize a civil society.
A Self-Interested Moral Goodness
There is such a thing as a claim to moral goodness that doesn't imply a desire for power over others.
This is the moral goodness of making your bed in the morning.
It's the moral goodness of a job well done whether anyone notices or not.
It's the moral goodness of keeping yourself in good physical condition even though you're in a committed and monogamous relationship.
It's the moral goodness of a commitment to know and face the truth regardless of how uncomfortable it makes you feel.
These are the moral goodnesses of a personal nature. It's between you and your conception of the good (what people call God).
It's a self-interested and self-investing moral goodness. It's building yourself into a person of character and authentically worthy of pride.
It is self-mastery: the conquering of your own laziness, disorderliness, cowardice, and greed.
This kind of moral goodness doesn't seek power over others. It realizes that the only way for others to achieve this kind of good is to undergo the unique struggles that their lives have handed them.
Struggle is a guarantee in life, along with death and taxes. How you deal with struggle is the only question that has ever mattered to any human being.
