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They are among us — people who benefit from lying about who they are
And we often don’t see them until late in the game.
Once upon a time, I thought people were basically good, however, recently I have started to doubt the truth of that opinion.
Being called idealistic is now something of a slur. It fits today’s world along with naive, gullible, and exploitable.
Labels stick to those who dislike them most.
Recently, a friend from Florida told me of her 80/20 maxim: 80% are fools and 20% are smart people. As my idealism takes a battering some days, I’ve modified this to 90/10.
It’s important to me to believe people have good intentions. If I perceive the immorality of someone’s plans, I think they can too. Not so. If I expect their consciences will be bothered, I have to accept their consciences may not even exist.
Teaching at a high school showed me early on that some teenagers are capable of dreadful things. Some crimes are occasionally explained away with, Oh, when they’re 30, they’ll grow into admirable people.
When a student in your class murders a senior at an ATM because she was just too slow, it’s hard to hold onto that image of his potential to change.
