Ego.

There are many things that I want to tell people sometimes. But most of the time, even when I’m telling the truth, I’d probably get accused of being arrogant, and even after I try to be humble, I would get slapped in the face with the “Humility is the greatest form of arrogance tag” like a teenager in an IRC chatroom getting slapped by a big fish. Over. and over. Again.

 

See, I’m the kind of person who will tell people when they’re being stupid. Or foolish. Or an idiot. Usually without letting it bypass the “should I say it?” conversation that normally occurs between the larynx and the brain. Which, on multiple occasions, has gotten me into a boatload of trouble.

 

But I think honesty is a good thing. It’s really one of the few ways that multiple parties can take something away from each situation. See, if I tell you you have the intellectual capacity of a housefly, I get to feel good, and you get motivated to think a little more. Of course, we do live in a world where the direct way is very rarely the accepted social norm – Inquisitors, heretics, conmen and politicians make sure of that(note the exclusion of terrorists, they belong to the other extreme). 

 

This happens because people have been educated, over the course of time, not to act in the interest of the community, but the self. Even if the net benefit is the greatest, why would you do it when you can maximise your own? Obviously, the part about having to screw everyone over en route to reaching said goal was left out, since the underlying assumption is that given the chance, everyone else would do the same to you. Which is really why the world is mired in its current state now. The US cannot pull itself out of its current crisis without negatively affecting China. Well, maybe they can, but….

Wait, I can’t think of any set of circumstances where that could possibly happen.

 

Then again, maybe the crisis wouldn’t have happened if the US hadn’t been so arrogant about how powerful their economy was, until it was too late. But see, at that point they really did have a damn good economy.

 

So the question is : If you’re obviously superior, do you say it and risk being labeled an arrogant, blithering idiot, or do you keep quiet and let everyone else fritter away faster than hello kitties at Mcdonalds?