People often respond to me this way, assuming naivete. That if I come to fully understand the depths of suffering well enough the blinders will fall away and I will understand, finally, that cruelty is the only just response to cruelty. I have seen enough of the depravity of humanity firsthand to understand the feeling of helpless rage, and I know firsthand how just it feels to give payback in kind. But I don’t think setting the bar of acceptable behavior to whoever does the worst thing is a wise solution. And I think if you see evil and your response is to match it with like, you must then consider yourself evil. I don’t want to be evil even if it feels just in the moment. I’ve tried it and it feels shitty. I like my way better.
People often respond to me this way, assuming naivete. That if I come to fully understand the depths of suffering well enough the blinders will fall away and I will understand, finally, that cruelty is the only just response to cruelty. I have seen enough of the depravity of humanity firsthand to understand the feeling of helpless rage, and I know firsthand how just it feels to give payback in kind. But I don’t think setting the bar of acceptable behavior to whoever does the worst thing is a wise solution. And I think if you see evil and your response is to match it with like, you must then consider yourself evil. I don’t want to be evil even if it feels just in the moment. I’ve tried it and it feels shitty. I like my way better.