LET US LOVE THE TRUTH!: LET US NOT BE POSITIVE ABOUT INJUSTICE

There are many people who believe that one must always be positive, denying the negative and therefore looking the other way even in cases of flagrant injustice. However, a “fake happy” attitude, besides being harmful to one’s own happiness, can be a perfect breeding ground for abuses to be perpetuated and remain unpunished.

It is like claiming that one should be positive about Hitler, Nazism, and the Jewish genocide because doing so would make us happier. Or like telling a judge to be positive about a group of men who raped and tortured a woman; that it is better not to think about the subject anymore and close the case, because one must always be positive.

The fact is that in matters of outrages, it is not right to be positive; rather, it is appropriate to be simply just and objective, calling things as they are.

WHY IS PSEUDO-POSITIVISM NEGATIVE FOR ONE’S OWN HAPPINESS?

Psychology experts are against the trend found in self-help books, slogans, and messages spread throughout society that convey the idea that one must always be positive and never negative.

Because being positive is healthy as long as it consists of thinking about things that truly are positive. It is highly recommended to frequently dedicate time to thinking about aspects of our lives that we like and being grateful for them, such as the parts of our body that function well, the relationships we have, and enjoying reasonable prosperity, peace, or security. The more, the better.

But another pillar just as important for being happy is facing the negative head-on instead of burying our heads in the sand like ostriches to avoid seeing it, as if it did not exist. Our well-being improves when we recognize and express what we do not like, as well as the emotions it generates in us, as a first step toward processing it and taking appropriate measures. In fact, doing so generates changes in our brain that make us feel better.

Therefore, let us affirm rather than deny the negative, address it instead of leaving it hidden under our bed, and express it instead of pretending that nothing is happening and that everything is fine.

WHY IS PSEUDO-POSITIVISM VERY HARMFUL TO OTHERS?

Even in the hypothetical case that being positive about injustice made me happier, my well-being is not the only one that counts, but also that of all those who have a nervous system that makes them feel good or bad and who therefore aspire to happiness.

To achieve a world with less suffering and abuse, it is disastrous to be positive about mistreatment, exploitation, crimes (especially on a large scale), cruelty, and evil. For injustices to end, one cannot be positivist toward them nor have a naively optimistic, understanding, indulgent, justifying, or indifferent attitude.

If we all had that attitude, slavery, large-scale human sacrifices, or the Holy Inquisition would still exist. So would the systematic rape of women in wartime as part of the loot to which warriors were entitled, and many other atrocities that existed in the past and no longer exist in many countries because, fortunately, there were some who fought against them.

There are those who say that we should not focus on the negative side of human societies. But it is thanks to those who concentrate sufficiently on it, and not those who have that “happy” attitude that everything is already more or less fine, that the French Revolution occurred and that we do not still live under the Ancien Régime or, worse, in the Middle Ages or even more barbaric and uncivilized times.

In matters of injustice, the person who sees things through rose-colored glasses, who believes that people in general are very nice and have many good qualities, is not someone who is more positive, but someone with a lower sense of ethics. Therefore, what is needed is to raise their moral standards. Because if they do not, they treat these issues with such indifference and calm, or even feel so comfortable and at ease with the corrupt status quo, that it leads to passivity or, worse, to its defense. And this creates the perfect conditions for its perpetuation.

A self-complacent, lax, lukewarm, and contributory attitude leads to mediocrity, to the world being a semi-dump (and in some places a total dump, without the “semi”), with numerous abuses despite the multitude of laws, decrees, and regulations and the large number of police, judges, and prosecutors to prevent them. In contrast, a critical and reasonably demanding attitude, one that calls things by their name and has no qualms about saying the king is naked, leads to continuous improvement, to excellence and to a better, more just world.

Thank you for sharing if you believe this analysis contributes to a healthier and happier world to live in.