oops, disregard the "?" question marks in the poll.

Just answer as if they weren't there.

why aren't the people that believe that people are generally good not replying to this thread?

they are voting, but not replying...

People, on the whole, are selfish, evil and stupid. I'll act on the belief until proven otherwise.

I believe mostly good, but at the same time imperfect and not above putting their interests above other's...sometimes going to extremes to get what's best for themselves, regardless of how it affects others.

Every human being is 72 hours from savagery.

Depends on the day.

Quoted: People act out of self-interest, period.  This is usually construed as "bad" behavior.

True.  While almost anyone can agree that hurting others is "bad" the rest falls into a lot of shades of grey and relativity depending on perspective.

I think people have a natural instinct towards compassion or selfishness and whatever code of ethic they hold themselves to only works inasmuch as their willpower.

Quoted: Every human being is 72 hours from savagery.

48

For the most part people are good.

Otherwise we would not have any society at all.

The subset that are bad need to be controlled.

That’s why we have firearms, police, and a DoD.

It’s also why libertarians will never get anywhere.

Mike

Quoted: Every human being is 72 hours from savagery.

I live two blocks from a Kroger's supermarket, and I own a gun.  I figure I and my neighbors are at least two weeks from savagery, if it comes to that

How about a poll choice for self-centered and selfish?

Quoted: American society = entitled. Everyone feels like their liberties are more important than yours.

Human race

When you say "people" you are talking about ALL humans, not just American society.

Look at all the savage areas on this planet.  
People hacking each other with machetes, stoning women who are rape victims, machine gunning protesters, shooting each other over a pair of sneakers...

Society attempts to control the basest self-centered human nature impulses.  
Now our society (American) has moved away from the concept of "the greater good" and we are seeing the results of human selfishness first hand.

Not good or bad, just selfish.

Just understand fear, jealousy, selfishness and laziness as being the fundamental condition of humanity and the world is a lot easier to tolerate and understand.

Good or bad is mostly based on your familiarity with the person .
It's much easier to consider someone you don't know as " Bad "
Just as it's easier to screw someone over you don't know . Thus
resulting in you being perceived as bad in their eyes .

It's called human nature

I think there are more good people than bad people, but that the majority are merely functional idiots.

Sorta like airplane crashes.  So long as airplane crashes are on Page 1, I'll keep flying.  When airplane crashes move to Page 6, I'll stop.

So long as murderers and child molesters remain front page, I'm thinking people are mostly good.




5sub

Ever notice how kids seem to know how to lie, steal, be selfish...all on their own?

Human beings are born with a predisposition to be scumbags. It is proper instruction that helps keep that instinct in check. Societal influence helps to keep that instinct in check.

That's one of the reasons why I am so dismayed by our cultural influences today. The more our culture celebrates scumbags, the more the societal walls that keep people from becoming scumbags restrained by the thin line of law and order in our society crumble.

Look at the aftermath of Katrina.

There is a significant percentage of our population who are restrained from being utter scum merely because law and order exists. The minute the boot of government authority is lifted from their neck they go hog-wild.

What kind of person we are is a result of the instruction we've had and the choices we have made. We are born with a predisposition to be rotten bastards, but at some point in life we get to choose what sort of person we will be.

Quoted: mostly bad except the good ones

...who didn't become good by accident. They had to work like heck to become decent human beings.

Being a scumbag is easy. Being a truly good man is hard.

Rather than "good" or "bad" , I think people are generally dumb and gullible. I would divide this generalization into three subsets................

1 - There are those that realize their shortfalls , and attempt to improve themselves.

2 - There are those that see the shortfalls of others , and attempt to take advantage
    of the percieved weaknesses of other people.

3 - There are those that , whether they realize their shortfalls or not , refuse to take
    responsibility for improving themselves , instead spending all their days blaming
    their problems on subset #1 , and punishing subset #1 for the actions of subset #2.


       

Most are self serving and indifferent, approximately 55% of people fit in here.  

A significant portion are inherently bad, 30% maybe.

Roughly 15% are good.


Everybody has the above qualities in different ratios.


In my dealing with the traveling public I can say with authority that 10% of people are assholes in the truest sense of the word.  

10% are pleasant no matter what befalls them, and 80% are just trying to survive.

Most people are lazy, ignorant assholes.

People are inherently bad.  Since the fall of man with Adam and Eve we are all born into sin.  None of this inherent good crap.  Look at little kids.  Look at the remotest areas of the globe where there is no law.  What prevails there?  Not utopia, that's for damned sure.

Without nurturing we would be savages so bad.

Mostly Amoral.

Doesn't matter.

Are people generally good?  Then why should you give a shit that I arm myself?

Are people generally bad?  Then why would any reasonable person go around unarmed?

People are mostly good, except for you f$$kers

bad.....at least here in vegas.

people are generally bad

I believe people are generally selfish.

Morallity dictates whether they are good or bad.

We are programed to be selfish it's a survival instinct, take care of self first then take care of others next.

That's why I don't believe stealing is wrong, we are programed to take what we need.  Morallity has dictated stealing to be wrong or bad.

Despite all my readiness to engage the darkside, despite all my sexual deviancies, the scales still rate me as a good person and I am willing to believe such.
__________________________________________________-
("I am a good witch."--Piper, (wtte), "Charmed")

Generaly, people are good. Now if we narrow it down to ARFCOM'ers, that's another story. hehe

It's a combination of necessity and ambition. Just about every "good" person is only good because of two reasons:

1. The law. Getting arrested for breaking the law and spending time in jail. This is the main deterrent but it is only a deterrent to a certain point. If the monetary or material gain from breaking the law is higher than the risk of going to jail then there is a greater chance of that person going to jail. Most people won't commit murder or robbery. But if they had an absolute guaranteed way of getting away with it with the result of making millions from it, most people would probably do it. They may hesitate. They may ponder all the options, but deep deep down they would probably do it. The only thing that stops them is there are so many variables to consider and most people would rather not risk ruining the life they have built up to that point. The risk is too great for them.

2. Friends and family and their public image. If someone gets caught committing a crime and goes to jail, they'll be an embarrassment to their friends and family and disgraced. This is the other big deterrent that stops people from committing crimes and directly relates to their upbringing. If someone had good parents whom they respect and whom raised them well, they will not want to take the risk of dissapponting them and facing them afterwards. They will not want to risk tarnishing their image and being looked at as a criminal by the general public. Their life will be ruined. Their family will be disgraced and their friends will never look at them the same. The risk is too great for them.

Anytime you deal with crime it relates to these two things. If someone is raised with poor values, no morals, and nobody to look up to and respect, then factor #2 will be less of an obstacle. If you take this same person and give them motive, the opportunity, and a low risk of getting caught, they will be very likely to commit a crime. The reward for committing the crime and how much they actually fear going to jail will be the main factors in determining the level of crimes a person is likely to allow themselves to commit.

I think if you took a baby and raised it in a bubble with no human interaction and let it rely on its instincts for survival its entire life, by age 18 you'd have a human with absolutely no hesitation for committing murder, stealing, or harming anyone who got in its way. Just like animals in the wild are.

I answered generally good.

What I meant was,  Equally good or bad=50%.

Eddie

As a GENERAL RULE, people are mostly good most of the time under most normal circumstances.

Quoted: As a GENERAL RULE, people are mostly good most of the time under most normal circumstances.

Yes but it's only out of fear that they're good. Weither its fear of the law, of the public, or of punishment from their god after they die, it's because they fear the consequences. It's not how they naturally are.

Quoted: When you say "people" you are talking about ALL humans, not just American society. Look at all the savage areas on this planet.   People hacking each other with machetes, stoning women who are rape victims, machine gunning protesters, shooting each other over a pair of sneakers... Society attempts to control the basest self-centered human nature impulses.   Now our society (American) has moved away from the concept of "the greater good" and we are seeing the results of human selfishness first hand.

At least 1 person gets it.............

Quoted: Quoted: As a GENERAL RULE, people are mostly good most of the time under most normal circumstances. Yes but it's only out of fear that they're good. Weither its fear of the law, of the public, or of punishment from their god after they die, it's because they fear the consequences. It's not how they naturally are.

Well, when I'm around my neighbors I'm pretty good at being pretty good to them and I can assure you that fear has nothing to do with it.  I don't claim to be perfect but, then again, I don't try to go out of my way to be an asshole either. They treat me pretty good in return.

bad

Quoted: Quoted: As a GENERAL RULE, people are mostly good most of the time under most normal circumstances. Yes but it's only out of fear that they're good. Weither its fear of the law, of the public, or of punishment from their god after they die, it's because they fear the consequences. It's not how they naturally are.

I'm not sure what you mean by "fear of the public" (most likely your aforementioned point #2: friends, family, public image), but you seem to have omitted a major fear:

Fear of intended victim.

An armed society is a polite society and, on average, we are not a armed society.

Now, we all know the average *criminal* is armed (despite all the laughable attempts via "the law" to prohibit felons-in-possession), so maybe that explains something of our love/fascination with the criminal element.....

I don't think that the 'good' and 'bad' thing is actually a valuable question.  

I think that people are generally *stupid*, and that's where the real problem is.

Shane

Quoted: When you say "people" you are talking about ALL humans, not just American society. Look at all the savage areas on this planet.   People hacking each other with machetes, stoning women who are rape victims, machine gunning protesters, shooting each other over a pair of sneakers... Society attempts to control the basest self-centered human nature impulses.   Now our society (American) has moved away from the concept of "the greater good" and we are seeing the results of human selfishness first hand.

Ok but I deal with Americans 90% of the time, so that is my experience and opinion. Savage is a good term as their society is underdeveloped for a modern world.  

Quoted: Wow, very surprized at the results.  It appears that Arfcom is a bit pessemistic.

Not "pessimistic," so much as "older, so more likely to have known someone who has been robbed, murdered, raped, assaulted, etc."