Imagine a world where characteristics that make us “different” are invisible. Race, gender, sexual orientation and religion are all inconceivable. Instead, what one sees in another is pure equality.
Under such a society, recognition of privilege and circumstance still exists. However, while people realize they’re better or worse off than another individual, they also realize that they are the same.
Since factors that have come to separate people in modern society do not exist in this one, all that remains is the recognition that others need help and you have the means to provide it. Let’s call this radical goodness; the idea that people should support people, period.
If this mindset is adopted, where would the globe’s problems stand? If not diminished, they would be at least reevaluated. Imagine a global society where differences resulting in war and mass destruction, discrimination and hatred, were all minimized under the simple idea that we are alike as a species, but unalike in quality of life and have the means to right the unequally weighted ship.
Understandably, this is no simple gospel to preach or take hold of. Categorization and separation have always defined societies and it is hard to forget that many have received such discrimination. Furthermore, there are certain things earned that have become socially acceptable to feel entitled to. Both these obstacles are deeply engrained in our social construct. The adoption of radical goodness would supersede such petty excuses for accepted underrepresentation, hatred and discrimination.
Let’s run through a hypothetical situation. You’re strolling down a city street when a struggling individual approaches and asks kindly for financial support.
Whether you decline or accept is an entirely different matter altogether, what matters is the recognition that the individual needed help, an instance where radical goodness would take the reigns without fail. Regardless the amount of the donation, the gesture brightens not only the individual but also those observing the generosity.
This, of course, does not only apply to financial support. Imagine a global society where those with discriminatory views saw every person as an equal. Imagine the sustainable and progressive society that would emerge.
From charitability to hospitality to expressive kindness, radical goodness has no drawbacks if universally accepted. Even if it were adopted and people took advantage of its vulnerability, radical goodness has the power to ultimately influence those who abuse goodness to reevaluate their values through goodness. Hate and division is never progressive. While anger may feel warranted, it is simply impractical and harmful.
In a snapshot of history where divisive ideology has dominated, radical goodness is the obvious key and when looked at through a purely conceptual and definition oriented lense, the benefits are all encompassing. Racism? Sexism? Homophobia? Xenophobia? Transphobia? Radical goodness renders all obsolete. Furthermore, radical goodness should not be a radicalized notion for when the aspects meant to differentiate us are removed from the mind’s eye, all that remains is the recognition that we are the same but unequally privileged. That recognition is the simple answer to unlocking the potential for a self-sustaining kindness machine.
As a white, straight, cisgendered male, I can’t relate to the lives of those with different characteristics than my own and therefore cannot preach a way of life that hinges on the necessity to put aside differences even if you’ve been on the receiving end of discrimination.
Instead, I present the idea as a building block for a reevaluation of how we treat one another day in and day out and hope it manifests itself in reflection.
Perhaps poet Maya Angelou said it most simply, “I’ve sailed upon the seven seas and stopped in every land, I’ve seen the wonders of the world not yet one common man … I note the obvious differences between each sort and type, but we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”
Lucas is a freshman studying Journalism. What are your thoughts on radical goodness? Please send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
