One of my lifelong quests has been to find out the meaning of what it is to be   
   a good person.   
      
   What does a good person do? A good person leaves the world a better place than   
   what he has found. He also is a boon to other people and to the world.   
      
   In economics and politics, this means maximizing creative potentials and   
   minimizing destructive potentials. It means allowing people a better existence   
   without destroying what you have not created and cannot recreate. It means   
   using technologies that are    
   brain-intensive and not resource-intensive and it also means maximizing   
   opportunity and prosperity while minimizing damage.   
      
   In interpersonal interactions, this means doing what's right by other people.   
   That can take any number of possible forms. Sometimes you need to encourage   
   people or support people. Sometimes you need to teach people. Sometimes you   
   need to correct people    
   when they are doing something wrong. You need to learn how to do all of the   
   above and have the correct judgment to know what you need to do in any given   
   situation.   
      
   Socially, this means achieving covenants that are workable, happy and fair. It   
   means looking at how the social universe can be the best place that it can be.   
   It means supporting people's legitimate aspirations and providing a framework   
   in which such can    
   be met in a way that is also beneficial for others. It means figuring out how   
   human relations can be arranged in an optimal manner that works for everyone   
   involved.   
      
   In ethics, this means demanding of oneself a rightful behavior. It means   
   making a commitment toward righteous conduct. It means caring about other   
   people and seeking their best interests without participating in whatever   
   errors they practice. It means    
   seeing through any possible form of wrongfulness and instead seeking   
   righteousness in all ways.   
      
   In intellect, this means having adequate knowledge of the world so that one   
   can understand the consequences of his actions. It means informing yourself   
   enough about the world to know what actions have what effects. And it means   
   making a commitment toward    
   actions whose effects are rightful and beneficial.   
      
   In feelings, this means maximizing feelings that are beneficial and minimizing   
   ones that aren't. It means growing good feelings such as compassion and   
   kindness and reducing the influence of feelings that are unrightful. It does   
   not mean never being angry    
   or being negative, but rather only being angry for rightful things and using   
   negative hunches to see problems enough to solve them rather than to create   
   problems. If negative feelings arise, the solution is to see whether or not   
   they are legitimate. If    
   they point to a real problem, the correct solution is to solve the problem. If   
   all that they are doing is whining, then the correct response is to tell them   
   to shut up.   
      
   In psychology, this means maximizing lasting happiness. I do not mean   
   temporary happiness; I mean happiness that lasts. I mean doing things in the   
   world that give people more to be genuinely happy about. I mean solving   
   problems in such a way as not to    
   create bigger problems. I mean using real thinking rather than positive   
   thinking or negative thinking and facing the problems head-on enough to solve   
   them. I mean doing away with wrongful theories and operating according to   
   things that are actually and    
   legitimately true.   
      
   In gender relations and other political matters, this means maximizing the   
   beneficial actions on the part of each side while minimizing each side's   
   negative potentials. In conflicts such as between business and labor or men   
   and women, neither side is    
   good and neither side is bad. Both are capable of both. The correct approach   
   to such matters is what I call the positive middle path, in which the   
   interests of both sides are taken into account, and mechanisms are put in   
   place to maximize the beneficial    
   action on the part of each side and minimize negative action on the part of   
   each side. In a related situation, it is to strive for win-win scenarios   
   whenever possible; while reserving the use of superior force against people   
   who choose to be implacable    
   enemies.   
      
   In intimate relationships, this means being committed to the partner's   
   well-being. It means doing the right thing by the partner and treating the   
   partner rightfully. It also means maintaining a loving, forgiving and generous   
   frame of mind, so that a    
   partner's misstep does not ruin the relationship.   
      
   In religion and spirituality, this means maintaining commitment to   
   righteousness while also being loving. It means caring about other people and   
   wanting their ultimate well-being without yourself partaking in sin. It also   
   means doing as much as one can    
   to maximize light and minimize darkness. It does not mean never being angry or   
   negative. It means choosing both righteousness and love.   
      
   On matter of sacrifice, this means knowing what sacrifices are rightful and   
   what aren't. You do not sacrifice yourself for the mafia. You do not sacrifice   
   yourself for Catherine McKinnon or Ash Patil. You do sacrifice your own   
   interests for greater whole    
   when that is the rightful thing to do. You practice discernment and see what   
   is lower quality and what is higher quality, and you use this criterion to   
   decide which qualities should be legitimately sacrificed to which.   
      
   On matters of strength and power, this means practicing judgment,   
   righteousness and self-control. Both strength and power are tools, and tools   
   are about how they are wielded. Anyone who has such things needs to learn how   
   to use them wisely. These things    
   are tools and should be treated as tools. And none should be allowed to become   
   a purpose in and of themselves.   
      
      
   There is more – much more. But it is these qualities that are most present   
   in genuinely good people I've known. And I certainly hope that the influence   
   of these people reaches as many people as possible, so that anyone who aspires   
   toward things such as    
   personal goodness knows what it means to be a good person and what is demanded   
   of him to become one.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)