I have been wondering about all the heroes and villains I have identified in recent times. First I thought that perhaps some of the heroes had done things not well known or advertised that were perhaps not so laudable. Perhaps, and I believe that some of their opponents are busy digging up such dirt to disturb or disrupt our beliefs. Then I came to realize that it is patterns of behavior and misbehavior that should be noted but that present trends and good deeds perhaps outweigh misdeeds of the past. At least I hope that is the case with retard to my own misdeeds. With that hope my attention turned to the ones I put into the villains groups … and there are many … including some noted politicians and entrepreneurs. I recall writing in an essay penned when I was in graduate school on truth that it is at times the truth that is selling that matters … at least to some of those unwilling to smell anything beyond their noses. It was then that the notion of patters of behavior re-entered my thoughts … it is who we have been and what we have done that define who we are and who we are becoming. And I seem to recall Nietzsche’s criticism of Socrates that one is never in a position to judge oneself. Still, we hear very little of any misdeeds that Socrates might have committed, although there is a tendency to lionize and praise heroes and belittle and disparage villains. The truths they are telling about an ex-president leave me thinking I may have much less money and many fewer admirers, but I do have a relatively clear and clean conscience in spite of many misdeeds that seem small and minor in comparison to some I have seen in recent years by the one I still consider villains.
Mike
December 2022 with best wishes to all the many heroes for a better and happier 2023
