In order for reason to exist in a rational mind, a person has to use judgement. The goal is to use good judgement. In order for individual people to exist, they must have unique characteristics. Having unique characteristics will result in people having their own preferences toward certain ones. If a person calls something beautiful it could be perceived to be offensive to the remaining things that weren’t called beautiful. Any preference can be perceived as offensive to those who don’t share it.

A person always has a choice on how to react to the judgements of others. It is normal and healthy part of reasoning to classify people and things as dangerous or useful through past experiences. These conclusions are changed by observing the same people or things behave in a different manner than what was experienced previously. Understanding this principle is key to having the proper reaction to the false judgements of others. Forgiveness is a common word used for the action of overlooking past perceived offenses, but there is a better way. It is the way that doesn’t take offense in the first place. One who maintains good character despite the characterizations of others is one who uses grace.  

Some are in the habit of taking offense at every slight. This allows them to always put others in the position of owing them some kind of debt. Bitterness is a way to keep oneself off the hook from personal responsibility. A bitter person has their sense of justice skewed. When people perceive they are at war, things that had been normal relational issues become terrible offenses in order to give the appearance of an injustice that needs to be righted. But vengeful behavior due to perceived injustices blinds a person to any real solution.

To actually be free from the prejudices and opinions of others one has to use grace. It isn’t the one that curses everyone and his circumstances that comes out of poverty and disadvantage with a clear conscience. It isn’ through killing scapegoats that one gets ahead. The one who moves ahead with good character despite opposition is the clear winner. There is little drama for those who use grace so their voice isn’t very loud. But if you think hard, there will always be those who gave you a break when you didn’t deserve it. Grace is the only solution for prejudice. Since preference and prejudice will alway exist, a graceful soul, one that doesn’t take offense, is the only soul that is free.

It is easy to say in general that we need a good government and good people in office. But when it gets down to the wire, the word good has to become specific. Having what are called goods or prosperity can go both ways. A person who is poor might be so due to a lack of diligence and self control and yet we see that wealth can ruin people also by the same lack of personal discipline. We can be just as anxious about lack regardless where we are in comparison to others. The cause of good in people’s lives has to do with something other than what they possess materially.

Plato gave hypotheticals in a dialogue form in his book Laws. The Athenian and others agreed that education needed to start when children are very young so they can learn how to value the use of self discipline and reward as early as possible. He presented the illustration of a person’s passions resembling a puppet in need of a master to pull the right strings. The correct string is considered golden. And students should be taught to reach for this one against all others. This must be where we get the Golden Rule. It is probably where we get the saying, “I will try to pull some strings to get it done”. Picture a marionette with a puppeteer.

The point in all of this is that a person who is good at doing what is right is the best person to have as a citizen. This is the highest calling of an educational system. Integrity is a product of a person’s youth and is very hard to change afterward. I just had training at work where they claimed that our personality is fully formed around ten years old. After that, we can make adjustments, but still relate to things like that kid.

I am not sure how firm the psychology is, but according to the aforementioned dialogue, a person who doesn’t know how to obey is a bad choice for a leader. The golden strings in politics is the law the people have put in place. A person who wants to be in authority is obligated to uphold and obey them. Electing a person who hasn’t perfected this is like having an unruly child in office. In the dialogue he likened a child’s behavior to that of a drunk adult. A drunk person loses the ability to discern things rationally and acts the same way a child would by acting on passions without thought. Along the same lines, when personal agenda (passions) come before obedience to the law of the land (the golden strings) a person is drunk with power. Like a child, they will make poor decisions and present all kinds of excuses to justify their behavior, usually through blaming others. The main virtue to look for in a good politician is the fortitude to follow  rules the citizens of that country have put in place.