"Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions; it's walled and roofed with them..."
- Aldous Huxley, Time Must Have a Stop
It is an underlying theme in The Haven, the outcome of good intentions. One of my students recently brought in an essay, and with reference to Emerson, made the argument that persons should be judged by their intentions, not their actions. Awful sentiment.
My main point is this: good intentions coupled with fear can lead to disasterous errors in judgement. Further, for some the intentions, or the desired ends justify unethical means, which is a recipe for terrorism and tyranny. No one wants to believe that their intentions are bad, particularly if it includes a plan to affect social change. On the other hand, citing good intentions can provide a respectable front for the pursuit of power (e.g. Five Year Plan, Junior Senator Joseph McCarthy etc etc.).
I hate getting abstract like this, which is probably why I wrote a story. What happens in government when the ideal has priority over the people?
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3 comments:
You ask, "What happens in government when the ideal has priority over the people?"
We're living it. I wouldn't give the current administration the benefit of calling their motivations "ideals," but you can be sure that they view things in such a light.
Remember, villains are the heroes of their own stories.
Once you embark upon the path of "the ends justify the means," then you run into things like torture, murder, etc. Elimination of conscience makes all things not only possible, but necessary, and therefore desirable.
This is an unspoken truth in most religions. A person can achieve paradise by doing "God's" work. As a devout atheist, I find it abhorring, but human beings somehow become bestowed with "God's" will, and they act upon their supposed knowledge.
The end, or perceived end, justifies the means.
I have often wondered if the guys who flew those planes into the twin towers had a brief moment of conscience, where they wanted to veer away at the last minute. I think not. I think that their brains, through conditioning, probably told them that they were approaching “heaven.” The closer they got to the towers, the more ecstatic they probably became.
That was their perception. That was their reality.
We are indeed living in unusual times. In these times, our government chooses “ideals/faith-based bullshit” over science. It’s notable that the leader of our country would tout “intelligent design” as a legitimate course of study.
Evolution is fact, and not a matter of “belief.” However, if a person’s world view precludes fact, then all things are possible. For such a reality, certain things become not only possible, but desirable, and therefore, necessary.
I am troubled that we, as a species, have not evolved as I had assumed. I guess I have my own problems with my reality…
Let me guess that the student was a male...
No, she was female. She's a truly delightful person as well. I don't think she had a complete handle on the ramifications of her assertions at that time.
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