Goodness At The Core

I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime. Yet for every criminal, there are ten thousand honest, decent, kindly men. If it were not so, no child would live to grow up. Business could not go on from day to day. Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but it is a force stronger than crime. 
-Robert A. Heinlein


Humanity as a whole is inherently good. At least in intent, if not always in practice. If we weren't, then the numerous things that have been done solely through donations would never have been done. The countless volunteers that make their presence known at every event around the globe wouldn't bother to come. The old woman who's grocery bag broke as she stepped out of the supermarket would be stuck picking up her own groceries instead of being helped by a younger, stronger person who saw it happen.

We don't do these things for recompense, we do these things because we want to help. At the core of our beings, we want to be "good." Anthropologically speaking, this has been a part of our genetic make-up since long before our brains reached the size and complexity they possess today. It occurs to a point in all other high-thinking creatures on the planet as well, be they mammal or bird, human or non-human. We as a planet do try to help when we see it's needed.

The truth is that the people who are "bad" are the true minority. Unfortunately they are also the major news makers. As Heinlein stated in the above quote, "Decency is not news." So what we tend to hear about is the bad. The people who hurt and don't help. The people who are hurt and have no way to recover. The sadness, and the pains of the world.

And that is why it's more important than ever to promote the success stories.

My boss beat Multiple Sclerosis. It was an incredibly long, drawn out, painful battle. A battle that, several times, she almost lost. But in the end, she won. She hasn't had an attack of any kind in almost two years - the monster is defeated.

She wrote a book about how she did it, hoping that the story of her journey and struggle could inspire others fighting the same monster, or even give hope to those facing other seeming insurmountable odds. Her daughter has started a Kickstarter campaign to get this book to print. If you can, please share the link and maybe donate a bit. Every little bit helps, and this is one story I can't wait to see out there.