Why can people be corrupt in society, why have lust for personal accomplishment in life, be greedy and evil, are they narcisstic and just want their way in life. Is it because of sexual lust, power, or for the money, opinions?
that's how this plain works. there will never be world peace, for this is the lowest of all worlds, and we're here to learn. i think this poem fits in nicely: Poetry - Rudyard Kipling - If - If you can keep your head when all about you
There's an old Greek story about this called the "Ring of Gyges". Someone finds a ring that makes them invisible, and that eventually corrupts the person. It's a really great place to start these talks because it's something everyone can relate to. A lot of people would use it and then sneak into locker rooms. Other people would rob banks. A lot of the good things you can do, the ring wouldn't be much help with, because you can do a lot of those things in the open where people can see you anyway. Of course that relies on a definition of "good" that's like "okay with most people" and we all know how mobs can do ugly things some of the time. But that's straying from the point of the story, and any story that simple will fall apart if you analyze it too much. So there's another idea by someone named Merton (I took a lot of philosophy and world religion classes just starting out school) where people turn to crime because they don't have options. Think stealing bread to feed your family. Or the entire plot of the show Breaking Bad. I really like his idea which is called "strain theory" or "anomie". So I think if you put the two ideas together, you get why a lot of people think corruption happens. And I'm saying that as someone with a lust for personal accomplishment in life. I definitely have life goals and my thinking about right and wrong does include those. I don't think having goals makes someone evil. Goals are great. Ambition can be a good thing. But I do think you have to try harder to be a good person if you have goals. Which is the other reason why I took a lot of philosophy classes.
Nothing causes corruption. Human beings are corrupt by nature - every single one of us - and will act it out without hope unless and until we start honestly inspecting ourselves, our behavior, and our motivations.
Everyone thinks they are special, and deserve better than what they have. What makes some people corrupt is that they believe they have the right to screw other people over in their quest for personal advancement. If somebody feels they are above petty rules like morality (or just don't care at all as in the Joker's chaotic personality) then they will cut the wiring off of a church to sell the scrap copper. I guess character means nothing if the rewards for tossing it are shiny enough.
^ Haha.. Well, there are several reasons. The main overall reason is that people come from different backgrounds and grow up with different understandings and different perspectives. Because of this, there are people who will go after a certain group of people because they are "the enemies". I think for some odd reason it's been deeply rooted in human history that there MUST be an enemy. I don't know why. I never wanted enemies. I'd always hoped I'd be able to be friends with everyone. Religion is also a big factor in corruption. And human nature. There are many good thinking people who can go corrupt. A great anime/manga about this (that you can also watch in movie form) is Death Note. Basically, Light Yagami finds this book with the basic function of killing a person whenever their name is written in the Death note. There are some other rules to it, but as the story progresses, Light goes from someone who kills the worst criminals (like so many people would) by writing in the Death Note to a completely utter homicidal lunatic. The basic message of this story is also in Cassie's post. And as said before, humans are naturally selfish. You already know how hard it is to give something you really like away. You know how hard it is to break up with someone. You know how hard it is to love a person you would normally hate.
Check some philosophical books/articles on "the problem of evil." This is a very old subject that's not about to get cleanly resolved any time soon.
This isn't a question that can be answered easily. Have a look around you. See how much competition, how much greed, how much hostility people have. Then imagine them with the powers of politicians, diplomats, and business executives. They are people too, and they have the same brutal instincts, and that's what's wrong. We're all too human.
This kind of mentality is silly. We live in a complex world and shit happens. "The love of money is the root of all evil". So rape is caused by the love of money? It is argueable that progess is caused by the love of money. This being the progess that is the only reason why we all live past 25 and have lives that are about living oppose to about surviving. Also this concept that we are all corrupt inside and that we could all murder and so on is rubbish which was started by religion. People who are evil are psychopaths, meaning that they don't feel empthany like we do. Most people are uncapable of killing without training and some even then are uncapable. It is against human nature to kill other humans (this is backed up by science). War is not in our nature. It is cause by the simple fact that there are some many of us on this Earth and that there is some much stupidity floating around. People say greed is bad. But wheres the line between ambition and greed. Ambition is what got us out of the cave and makes us innovate.
This, and peoples brain's 75% of time if not more are programed to take the easy out, maybe it wasn't always this way, but that trait helped us to survive and get far as we have, and because of the way the brain, body, and biology works, unfortunately, that trait more and more became set in stone.
