On Morals

I see that we all justify our own bad behavior based on the fact that we are upset that someone else behaved the same way.
       We vilify Trump and it is okay because others vilified Obama and continue to vilify Ms. Clinton. It is justified even though useless and childish and petty because the "others" did it.
     Just like my ten year old son. Of course, in his case it is not encouraged. In fact it is recognized for what it is.
   We should not encourage each other in tribalistic glorification and vilification.
  
If there is moral strength, it is universal. Not this thing we do now in which if "our side" did it, it is good and if "their side" did it, it is evil.
 
So how do we go beyond this? I see it all the time in family and politics and it seems to make life worse for most

on hope and motivation

There is a thing called hope.
My friend says hope is a passive word that makes the user of the word or thought just as passive as the word. He claims that those with intent will have a chance to succeed those who hope are doomed to fail in whatever they hope to achieve.
 I find hope helpful. When I have hope I have intent and motivation and drive, now that is a whole different subject9 what motivates people) I hope to "save" the world. There is absolutely no way I can do that so I have spent years in confusion and putting my energy here and there in a random way.
  Now I have heard from my mom that the pueblo people that she and my dad spent time with did not consider a person an adult until that person was 52 years old, as it happens I am 52 right now.

Back to that old hopey changey thing. Another friend has a phrase, false hope. We have not gotten the opportunity to speak more in detail so I ran with what I suspect she means. There is a way in which many people hope Jesus will fix everything and a way in which people hope that things will work out in a passive way. The false hope is when someone does not tell you the true extent of what needs to be done or the true probability of success. When the person finds the true extent of the issue they are confronted with they often feel betrayed or hopeless or both. then the poop hits the windmill.

So how does one motivate oneself or others to do good? When there is no hope my little group quits. When there is hope my friends group are passive. My other friends group sees hope as a false flag that is waved I the faces of people on purpose or out of fear of the person giving up when they here truth. 

Communication.

courage, kindness, softness, love and connection

Thinking back it seems to me that every time I have acted in violence, anger, fear, or coldness I have lost something of importance to me.
 It could be honor, integrity, or relationship.
 The last to time it has been relationships. The last time I lost a life
  No matter how much bullshit I shovel or good I do for the rest of my life there will be a hole in my sense of me...
  I advise all to reject fear and one-up-manship. Every time you vilify a whole group or even a person you tear a little hole in the fabric of society.
  Think clearly and with courage and honor and integrity before you say or do anything cruel or dismissive. You yours and all of us collectively lose when we do such things
 

Empathy

How do we empathize with the "other"
Those who we disagree with or fear?
 What happens when we misjudge and either attack a good person or mistake evil for a miscommunication?
 

nice

A long story on whether being nice pays off for men in the world on the BBC yesterday
 The most striking thing I noticed was the scientist saying that there is an assumption in many humans that we are all evil assholes so anyone who is nice is therefore weak.
This to me is to me is a sad and fearful belief which is actually false and through constant repetition soon becomes a social reality.
So my conclusion is that us good folks need to do is to battle against the evils of  those who worship bluster and violence and do the battle of good vs evil with strength and kindness
 

justice,equaility, morality

A very complex and difficult subject this thing of fairness and justice.
 I sense in many of my friends a judgment full of fear and resentment
My young children often feel resentment of the others enjoyment and their childish solution to this problem is often to take the joy or resource away from the other, the same method many adults have  For example . Some people get free college, others don't. The immature solution based on the a priori idea of not enough is to take free school (donated or paid by others or society) away from those who have it.
Interestingly this does not translate to inherited or stolen wealth....
 

Doing one's best the love of excellence is a rare and beautiful thing  I remember as a young man thinking that doing ones best was putting forth full effort in whatever one was doing.
What happens if one has never been challenged in their lives?
It seems that man do not know what their best is.. I am trying to figure how one hits a moving target
As one tries hard ones best becomes better and better as one believes that they are trying their best their best can be less and less