Sometimes my favorite movie ever is Highlander. Most of my favorite movies ever have a soundtrack by Queen. Highlander is about some individual immortals who live hundreds of years and can only be killed by each other. Eventually, "there can only be one" (a phrase repeated throughout the movie). The last immortal left gets "the prize" which can be used to save the world or rule it.
The final two immortals are the hero (the "Highlander" of the title) and one of my favorite bad guys in movie history: The Kurgan. Kurgan is played by Clancy Brown, a very magnetic actor and a joy to watch especially as this villain.
At one point, Kurgan meets Highlander in a church (neutral ground so they can't kill each other there) in order to aggravate him. After their machismo words, Kurgan sticks around to disrupt nearby worshipers. A very brave priest comes up to him and begins this bit of dialogue:
Priest: This is the house of God. People are trying to pray. You're disturbing them.
Kurgan: He cares about these helpless mortals?
Priest: Of course he cares. He died for our sins.
Kurgan: That shall be his undoing.
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I'm not a nice person.
There are a lot of people who may disagree. They can cite evidence because I do nice things -- or at least I'm not overtly cruel like The Kurgan. But the nice things I do aren't because they're a natural part of me. I do nice things because logically, I feel that people need to do nice things in order to have a working and evolved society. It's ideals in humanity and not the desires of my heart that compel me to be good.
My perfect society comes at a sacrifice. I may not live in this society -- but maybe I'll have the honor of making a tiny influence on others who may make an influence on others who may produce the society.
Those people reading this now are probably thinking I think I'm actually a better person than I am. But that's the point, see? I'm not good at all. Hardly anybody is.
I should probably re-define though. I'm not so much good as I'm someone who sort of abstains from evil. I specifically try my hardest not to be cruel or obnoxious or a negative influence on people. I don't specifically look out for number one because I don't believe "there can be only one." If we're getting there, we're doing it together. We have our freedom to choose to get there, but if I influence someone negatively, I'm horrified.
Anyway, not being evil is more of a job than a habit.
Lots of us realize this -- and as a result, lots of us become douchebags. I guess people can define douchebags lots of different ways. Some define them strictly by wardrobe. For the purposes of this writing, I'll define douchebags as consumed with the solipsistic pleasures of the self. A douchebag sees society as a means to benefit himself solely and not something to be improved upon through idealistic communal effort.
With the psychology that other peoples' feelings don't exist, the burden of society is lifted for the douchebag. He's learned that since only the "one" is what matters, he can open himself up to happiness.
We sometimes fool ourselves into feeling sorry for them, but if they had the capability, it would be they who feel sorry for us (I say "us" here assuming that no douchebags are reading). We think they're unhappy, but they're unencumbered, free and joyous.
More and more people are realizing this. The more who realize this, the more obvious it is to the rest that this is how things actually work. You can just take what you want.
I don't say this to change your mind about the way you're living or to have some kind of sympathy for douchebags. Don't. I say this to put the cards on the table about how real this is. Those who deserve comeuppance won't receive it unless they ask for it. You can become evil and have and feel anything you want. That's exactly why it's so important to not be evil -- to not find virtue in selfishness.
Often, lower creatures discover quickly that that evilness is a marvelous path because it has no detriment. This is true. And this is our sacrifice.
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