It is certainly the case that, in my experience, apparently sullen youths are at least as likely to be helpful, get out of people's way or what-have-you as outwardly respectable adults, if not more so. But isn't that itself a worrying trend, if people are actually getting worse as they get older? It makes sense, though - the more tired you get, the more evidence you see that virtue is not rewarded and vice not punished, the more inclined you become to say, 'fuck it'.
And yes, as to what we mean by the 'right' thing...well, the people with all the moral fervour are mostly the ones who are morally fervent about killing gays, banning abortions, cleaning up the airwaves or whatever. All blissfully certain that they're the good guys, of course. Meanwhile, liberalism sits paralysed by the fear of seeming judgmental. Or as a wise man once put it, "the best lose all conviction; the worst are full of passionate intensity". His only mistake being, failing to remind us that the worst don't think of themselves as the worst - if anything, it's the self-doubting best who do that.
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Date: 2008-09-18 05:59 pm (UTC)And yes, as to what we mean by the 'right' thing...well, the people with all the moral fervour are mostly the ones who are morally fervent about killing gays, banning abortions, cleaning up the airwaves or whatever. All blissfully certain that they're the good guys, of course. Meanwhile, liberalism sits paralysed by the fear of seeming judgmental. Or as a wise man once put it, "the best lose all conviction; the worst are full of passionate intensity". His only mistake being, failing to remind us that the worst don't think of themselves as the worst - if anything, it's the self-doubting best who do that.