I've always admired Eric Hoffer--I think his theories about why people gravitate to fundamentalist modes of thinking are right on. And I think that practicing kindness, behaving kindly even if one feels unkind, is the best way to become a kind person. But I have a problem with "It’s easy because it makes us feel good. " I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately, there's no lack of people who get their kicks from cruelty. There are predators who take joy in wounding and killing, who consume the grief of their victims much as a tiger consumes an antelope. Harming provides their sustenance and is their mode de vivre. What to do about such people, how to open them to the different and (kind people think) greater joy of kindness, as I see it that's the paramount issue in trying to ameliorate the world's suffering. It takes a lifetime's education and practice, or a revelation, to instill kindness--and often even these don't work. For those who live by cruelty, often (unless they realize and activate a latent need to change), kindness is a threat or an invitation to more cruelty. It's not easy. And it can terrify as well as please. How do you tame a wild human animal?
I've always admired Eric Hoffer--I think his theories about why people gravitate to fundamentalist modes of thinking are right on. And I think that practicing kindness, behaving kindly even if one feels unkind, is the best way to become a kind person. But I have a problem with "It’s easy because it makes us feel good. " I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately, there's no lack of people who get their kicks from cruelty. There are predators who take joy in wounding and killing, who consume the grief of their victims much as a tiger consumes an antelope. Harming provides their sustenance and is their mode de vivre. What to do about such people, how to open them to the different and (kind people think) greater joy of kindness, as I see it that's the paramount issue in trying to ameliorate the world's suffering. It takes a lifetime's education and practice, or a revelation, to instill kindness--and often even these don't work. For those who live by cruelty, often (unless they realize and activate a latent need to change), kindness is a threat or an invitation to more cruelty. It's not easy. And it can terrify as well as please. How do you tame a wild human animal?