Kind to the Cruel = Cruel to the Kind Quote of the Day I כל מי שנעשה רחמן במקום אכזרי סוף שנעשה אכזרי במקום רחמן Those who are kind to the cruel, in the end will be cruel to the kind. This is from October of 2011 but it is every bit as relevant today. Unfortunately, as famed American League baseball icon, Yogi Berra, would say… “it’s like déjà vu all over again”. It is an axiom of human nature, true in all cultures at all times and places, that if you reward bad behavior, you will get more of it. This is not rocket science, and yet in the name of compassion or from lesser desiderata, the fixed principle of those who are weak in heart and mind, is to go right ahead. They are the people who can always find a reason to reward bad behavior -- invariably at the price of punishing the opposed good behavior. This in turn leads to trans-valuations of good and bad, demanding additional cartloads of nuance. I have seen it written in a number of places that the heart of the Right-Left divide is their views on responsibility. Or, as the Talmud puts it: כל מי שנעשה רחמן במקום אכזרי סוף שנעשה אכזרי במקום רחמן Kol mi shena`asa rahaman bimqom akhzari Sof shena`asa akhzari bimqom rahaman All who are made to be compassionate in the place of the cruel In the end are made to be cruel in the place of the compassionate Kohelet Rabbah, 7:16 More colloquially translated: Those who are kind to the cruel, in the end will be cruel to the kind. It is no coincidence that this sort of Conservatism is associated with family values. Being a parent is one long object lesson in this truth. Any parent who shows “kindness” to his children in a way which rewards bad behavior will inevitably get more of it. Sometimes this sort of “cruelty” is the kindest thing you can do for you children. The trick to being a good parent is not in deciding “how strict” to be, but in figuring out when you must be strict, and when it is possible to be lenient. Those who shy away from this task – often on supposedly moral grounds, but actually reflecting moral cowardice – will not be doing their job. The same is true in economics and politics. In being compassionate you have to carefully consider the possibility that you are rewarding, thus encouraging, bad behavior. Quote of the Day II: “Those who turn away from fighting evil need to be aware, that the notion of evil as dark is actually the opposite of the truth. Evil is so bright, that people cant stare at it with their eyes. Its blinding; so people look at other things. Instead of fighting evil, they fight carbon emissions.” - Dennis Prager geraldahonigman/blog/2011/10/14/schalit-kind-to-the-cruel-equals-cruel-to-the-kind/ rishon-rishon/archives/044412.php
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 22:29:51 +0000