[automatic6131]

>But in the case of righteousness, such a belief is almost always mistaken. Most of us, whether we be timid or bold, liberal, conservative, or (especially) some version of radical, are prone to imbibing heady infusions of the stuff. Viewing ourselves as “good,” in fact we become grievously toxic, literally intoxicated. In this poisonous state of mind we are able to write off others — often literally billions of others — without hesitation or remorse, because they are “bad.” It’s on the news every day: people addicted to righteousness are wreaking havoc, at home and abroad. And as I view this madness, I feel myself swell up with — what? You guessed it — righteous indignation! As usual, addiction becomes a closed system, feeding on itself.

Best paragraph. I was guilty also.

[ultramegachurch]

I had the same reaction. I’m an endlessly skeptical and often cynical person. Whenever I see someone confidently believe they are “right”, I instinctively trust them less. This article made me realize this is just my own flavor of righteousness.

That’s not to say righteousness is inherently bad. The only reason people make decisions is because they believe they’re right. I enjoyed this article but perhaps it’s overly reductive. I don’t know what we can do to cure righteousness, and maybe that premise itself is nonsensical.

[JackFr]

My take away is that all we can hope to do is our best, and recognize that we’re all trying to do our best.

No one is the villain of their own narrative.

[titanomachy]

I think severely depressed people can sometimes be the villain of their own narrative.

[phkahler]

It's fine for people to want to do good. It's not fine when its driven by subconscious emotional motives.

[bluetomcat]

"Right" is relative to one's particular situation and social surroundings. One thing could be right for a remote-working individual living in a big city, and it could at the same be wrong for country dwellers. Different types of communities function in different ways.

[BeetleB]

I strongly recommend the documentary "Weather Underground". They interview key members who introspect a great deal on the actions they had taken. You'll get the full spectrum ("no regrets" to "we were totally wrong"). One of the members put it succinctly:

> When you feel that you have right on your side you can do some horrific things.

> If you think that you have the moral high ground, that's a very dangerous position and you can do some really dreadful things.

For those who don't know, the Weather Underground were a violent revolutionary/militant/terrorist group in the US in the 70's who aimed to (more or less) overthrow the US government.

[AnimalMuppet]

"For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." Even if you're an atheist, that principle holds true. Be careful of anger as a response to the evil of others. (I say, having had that exact response just this morning...)

[apatters]

The author is on to something noteworthy for sure. It's a shame he only devotes one paragraph to his "recipe." Boy is that a topic I'd like to read more on.