. . . we're more bad than good. And I don't think it's close. I think the only way we can look at ourselves as good is if we use all sorts of common excuses wherein we compare ourselves to others, which isn't a useful comparison if we're all pretty bad to begin with.
Now this is actually sort of funny to me--I mean, I've personally seen young children poisoned, beatened, stabbed, and burned by their mothers. I saw a woman's body split open from her pelvic bone to her chin with a machete. I've seen people who killed themsleves and killed others, blood-soaked floors and beds and cars, brains lying in the street. I've smelled burned and rotted flesh, and I know the smell of blood. I've seen rape victims of both sexes and all ages. I've seen people get probation for what I consider major crimes and people who likely were punished more than they really deserved because they couldn't afford a decent lawyer. I've had run-ins with communists, fascists, Ku Klux Klanners, Black Panthers, and outlaw motorcyclists. I've encountered more than one mass murderer. I've associated with drug dealers and prostitutes. I've seen phony preachers, crooked politicians, and cheats of all kinds. In short, I've seen virtually every kind of criminal and the aftermath of every sort of crime out there.
And after 67 years of witnessing life on earth, I still have the highest possible opinion of people as a whole, because most of the people on this earth are good; most of the people on this earth are more likely to help than to hurt others; most people are doing the best they can and trying to support their families. Most honor their parents and love their children, and I suspect most people around the world are truer to their spouses and significant others than I've ever been.
I just don't understand how anyone can see only the bad in this world. For every killer I've ever seen, I've seen dozens of firemen run into burning buildings and policemen risk their lives to protect others, and soldiers who have stood guard on the frontiers of freedom, and politicians with principles who have tried to make things better.
I was born in the South at a time when segregation and racial intolerance was deeply ingrained in my society at large. I grew up not knowing there was any other designation for blacks than the N-word. Hell, I didn't even know for years that it was wrong or insulting to another race. I grew up in a society where toilets and drinking fountains were labeled white and colored. I've seen signs that said, "N-----, don't let sundown catch you in Vidor." I've seen Hispanic workers who were cheated and abused and called "greaser."
But most of all--most important to me--I've seen things change, people change. I've seen my kids playing in their own neighborhoods with other kids who are black and Hispanic and Vietnamese. Those same kids have been in my house, kids of nationalities and color who my paternal grandfather would not have allowed in his. I've seen mothers working with diseased and brain-damaged children to accomplish small victories that will make their children's lives better. I've seen children with skeleton forms from polio lying in iron lungs and young men and women who are quadraplegics who still laugh and have ambitions and love life despite their terrible handicaps.
Science is doing more to help and heal people than at any time in our whole history. More important, people are doing more to help and heal others. We're communicating more and better today and learning more about our similarities rather than just our differences. I know this is a better world today because I've watched it improving for 67 years, and I'm sure it will be better in the future as we become better and move beyond old fears and hatreds.
Most of all, I know there are more good people than there are bad, more people wanting to do the fair and the right thing than trample their neighbor under. I've seen people rise above themselves and above their setbacks, the triumph of the human will and of the human spirit. And I believe in that totally.