You Might Have Good Character If...
How to Know If You're Still Doing Good in a Crazy World
The Story
I’ve taken some time away from writing Good Character for a few weeks to focus on my novel and teaching projects. During that time, so much has shifted.
It’s now somehow normal for a president to ignore the judicial branch entirely and do whatever the hell he wants, including kidnapping people in this country legally without due process.
(And on, and on, and on. You know the rest.)
On the flip side, it’s also somehow normal for people to light Teslas on fire or to suggest that violent protest may be required of us.
How do we even know what Good Character looks like right now?
Does it look like being stoic, letting our rage simmer, or tending our own gardens?
Is Good Character about taking a bad deal because it’s more important to compromise and move forward toward an uncertain future?
Or is Good Character taking what you feel you’re owed with no apologies?
Is it the motivation behind the action, the person committing the action, or the result that matters?
Guys. My head is SWIMMING with all of this insanity.
And there’s more.
My whole life, I’ve at least been able to trust my own gut on what is “right.” But how the hell do we know what’s right when we don’t even know what’s true anymore?
You can’t believe the internet because it’s been infiltrated by A.I. You can’t believe politicians because their power is rooted in whatever the algorithm fed the voters in a swing state. You can’t even trust your own opinions unless you completely disconnect, but isn’t it too late for that?
To paraphrase Ted Gioia, we’re all drinking from the poisoned well of artificial intelligence and social media. And neither of those things gives a crap about humanity or what it means to be a good person.
It’s getting harder and harder to teach character to children. When they see that there’s no accountability for the leader of the free world, why would they bother doing homework? When they see that they’re rewarded through the algorithm for pranks and bullying, why should they listen to their parents telling them those things are bad?
I don’t have answers to any of these questions. I wish I did. But I do have some thoughts on what character is, and can still be, even while it feels like society is collapsing. And I can offer a silly-but-honest way to deliver that message.
Remember Jeff Foxworthy’s schtick “You might be a redneck?” Well, with credit to Foxworthy, I’m going to borrow his phrasing.
Character is Connective
If you’re making choices that lead you toward people and community, you might have good character.
Character is Helpful
If you’re serving others, you might have good character.
Character is Natural
If you’re spending time in nature and paying attention to what your body tells you while in the natural world, you might have good character.
Character Brings Inner Peace
If you feel a sense of deep-down peace or moral steadiness over your actions, you might have good character.
Character is Based in Humanity
If you can find examples of other people doing what you’re doing— preferably older and wiser people— you might have good character.
Character is Flexible
If you sometimes change your mind, habits or life structures to reflect new information, you might have good character.
Character is Honest
If you can be honest with yourself and others, you might have good character.
Character is Hopeful
If your own actions build a sense of hope for the future, you might have good character.
Character is Strong
If you know your own mind, are willing to listen to others, and stand up for what you believe in, you might have good character.
Stuff You Might Like To Know
In a Flash is open for submissions! Here are the upcoming themed calls:
April 1-15: LIGHT
May 1-15: HOME
June 1-15: RESISTANCE (this was my chosen theme, and I’ll be editing the issue, so please send those subs— I’ll be reading blind, so don’t worry if we know each other!)
July 1-15: HOPE
August 1-15: COMMUNITY
On Substack, these articles are tucking themselves inside my brain:
The World Was Flat. Now It’s Flattened. (State of the Culture by Ted Gioia)
It’s Not Ideology It’s Action. (Lines and Layers)
I’m reading WHAT YOUR BODY KNOWS ABOUT HAPPINESS by Janice Kaplan, and it’s fascinating. Try the “smiling” trick, where you smile even if you’re not happy. It works!
I’m re-watching The Good Place, which may be why I’m thinking philosophically these days.
Keep hoping. Keep caring. Keep trying.
Protesting peacefully for human rights is where I am now... and feeling the good character of those surrounding us on the sidewalk with their funny & insightful signs, the non-stop happy horn honking and people smiling & waving out of cars passing by - knowing that we're doing it for those that can't. I have advised my minority friends and relatives (I have many) to avoid the protests entirely themselves, and that I have the privilege to protest FOR them. My feeling is that the militias just itching to create havoc and violence must know that attacking white grandparent types would be very bad optics for this regime, while cracking a few minority (and young) heads would probably be cheered by their base. So I will put myself and my old knees out there on the streets, and hope that we're doing some good. We have to save this country.
This is such an important question, especially for us as residents of the real world instead of participants in a contrived moral dilemma. And this isn’t the spot to talk about my own thinking and writing, but the question you raised was one that I muddled through for 7 years.
My simple answer, is that our behavior is of good character if it creates trust, rather than erode it.
Thank you for posting this, and creating the space to learn from others.
Enjoy The Good Place - “Oh fork!”