Some people like to tell the world what they think or feel. Perhaps the most popular way nowadays is using instant messaging client or social networking website to do this. Most of these people ("all of these people", I think) want to look nice in front of others. Who doesn't? :) But this makes me wondering "are people so weak inside that they can't admit their own flaws?" or "is it only nature of human being that we want to be looked nice in front of the others?". This writing will not talk about why people like to share what they feel or why they want to be looked nice or what is nice what is not nice. This writing will talk more about, again, honesty. Honest to ourselves.
In my country, every one knows that Soeharto regime did a lot of corruptions. After he stepped down from the power, several investigations and trials were conducted. They tried to prove legally what the regime has done but always the lawyers, somehow, could make argument over another argument so in the end, nothing happened to this regime. The lawyers usually used the law system itself to defend their cases. They asked about evidences, witnesses, proofs, which of course no one could provide since the regime operated in such a way that they were correct in front of the law.
Ironic? Funny? Strange? That someone was flawless in front of the law but everyone knew the someone was not without flaws. Is there something wrong with the law? If we bring this thing closer into our daily life, actually we see similar things happen too.
Example, girl A and boy B, B likes A. He did everything a normal guy does to pursue her, accompanied her almost every day, tried to be there anytime she needed some one, asked her out, sometimes not for a date but perhaps did a simple activity that he hoped he could melt the girl's heart. He did everything to make her happy. What about the girl reactions? She did every move that showed that she was interested, thank you with smile, ok with the presence of the boy. She did everything that showed she was satisfied and happy with the boy's actions. As the days went by, the relationship stuck on the same place. The girl finally accepted another boy as her boyfriend and B was just devastated. I asked the girl why she did this? She said that she didn't know B liked her, she only did appropriate reactions because it would have been impolite to refuse his requests (going out, movies, dinner, etc). She kept emphasizing that she knew nothing or never she promised anything to B or it would been impolite or didn't feel right to refuse, etc.
Another example, girl X and boy Y likes each other. They went out several times, kept in touch every day. The girl spoke highly of Y. Out of sudden the girl also accepted another boy as her boy friend. Everybody was shocked and she just said nothing happened between me and Y, we were only very close friends. So by saying this, technically... again I say technically, she was correct in front of the 'law'. No promise had been given, no words had been said, but why Y was devastated. If you saw 'Friends' before, this line was Ross' favourite line about technicality ... "we were on a break!!!" :)
Some people can say that B and Y were stupid. Well, maybe they were, I am not discussing about their stupidity. I believe even these stupid people (normal, not retarded stupid), have heart to feel the right things. In fact, most of normal people know it when they are being cheated or being treated unfair. In above examples, I believe the girls knew it too but they were 'de facto' clean because they said that they didn't know, they didn't promise anything, or we were just friends, etc.
Two big schools in China said 人之性善 vs 人之性恶, human nature is good versus human nature is evil. Which one is true? Not relating this question to the legalist or Xunzi or any religious believes but I am sure most of people know how to differentiate between common good and common evil.
Yuupp, normal people which we know. They are not killers or robbers, they work 8 to 5 like most of us, share same interest like movie and music, they go to temple or church.
But yet... these people are the people who usually trap in this de facto or technicality "solution". Why do they do that? Human nature? Or they want to achieve the best? Peer pressure? Collective reality? Scared to lose mentality? Need to be needed? Popularity?
I don't really care about why because I believe we have the ability to choose our reactions. I am more interested in whether or not these people know the result of what they have done. In most of the cases, they know :) They usually do anything to cover up the bad part, they don't publish the real story, or even worse they make different stories.
I am not a good person myself. If Ikea sells a scale which can weigh my evilness, I am sure I will be overweight. But please help me and remind me, God... because I know that You know how to put the right price tags on all items in the world.
