Neutrality: Good Guys, Bad Guys

The good guys win and the bad guys lose.

In my view, there are two different interpretations of this saying. And in all respects, they say very different things.

In one view, you can say that those whose actions are deemed ‘good’ are those that win out, while the ‘evildoers’ lose out and are put to shame.

 In another view, you can say that whoever wins is deemed ‘good’ and whoever loses is deemed ‘evil’.

Don’t be misled into thinking both imply one and the same thing – the terms of the second view are sometimes very contradictory to what the first view entails. For example, if Adolf Hitler had triumphed during the Second World War and accomplished his ‘evil’ objectives, would people say ‘the good guys won’? I very much doubt that.

In retrospect, the team that won has not always been the team with ‘good’ ideals – that is, sometimes; the group seen as ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ secures some wins. Do you then call them the ‘good’ guys? Let’s save ourselves the stress of being termed psychopaths.

So we can see that in some terms, both trains of thought fail to correctly describe the situation or tell us who’s who in terms of good and evil without offending one party or the other. And for that very reason, I have, many times, refused to make use of the analogy of ‘good and evil’ to describe any teams in a conflict.

So what do I say?

When approaching this sort of topic, knowing that members of each side are actively listen to lay their own complaints, I like to take a neutral stance, using the concept Of IDEALS. That means that I don’t necessarily see any team as good or evil, but just as a group or a person. I only do this when I just want to make ordinary comments, not to take sides and subsequently get drawn into the friendly (or not-so-friendly) conversation.

In this, I just put it that Group A and Group B fought over the protection of their ideals (not qualifying their ideals as what I feel them to be). This way, you can offer a complete, neutral description of the situation, leaving other parties and listeners to decide their stance on the matter.

 I feel that this character or method is important for a person seeking to establish peace. Neutrality can only be achieved by removing all sentiment from your words and talking about things as they were.

In that case, the winners win and the losers lose.

C’est fini?

Oui.