Cynical or Realistic?

One active aspect of cynicism involves the desire to expose hypocrisy and to point out the gulf between society's ideals and its practices according to Mary Midgley.  George Bernard Shaw allegedly expressed this succinctly: "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who don't have it" (1).

I have been tossing around the ideas of cynicism, depression and realistic attitudes, and have some difficulty. On the one hand, cynics are sometimes thought of as melancholic or depressed, self-deluded, and on the other as realistic. When someone tells me I have a cynical attitude, I respond that I have a realistic attitude. Why? Well, in my education and experience, cynical people were somehow thought of as being defective. Maybe in personality. Maybe in intellect. Maybe in spirituality. And I don’t think of myself thusly.

In looking back over my several decades, I find that the world view I have always held includes the ideas that humans like to and strive to do good as individuals and some groups. Take churches for example: countless “missions” are undertaken every year to go somewhere to do good works. And not always (cynicism?) just to gain new converts. I ran into Baptist missionary projects in Nicaragua, a fiercely Catholic country, building sanitary outhouses for extremely rural and poor families. No illusions of converts. Just good works. At the exact same time, corporations, governments and individuals all over the world were exploiting people and resources for their own enrichment. Not for the good of the people. This is not a cynical observation, just a realistic one.

The cynicism as defined by Midgley and Shaw, though, definitely shines through. You see, I deeply believe that humans will per natura act in their own interests when able, and when powerful enough. Not all people, or even most people mind you. But enough to tip the scales. A few powerful leaders control world events. Wars are not started by the citizens of countries, they are started by the leaders. Revolutions may be good wars started by the citizenry, but most often are corrupted at the end. Industries operate for profit and often disregard the long term effects of their actions. Governments can and often are corrupted by corrosive effects of money, either through the political process or directly through graft.

I believe that the vast majority of individuals want to do good and actually do good. Observation of the world, not a cynical observation either, clearly shows a world descending into degradation and chaos. Unstoppable? Probably not. Will it be stopped? Probably not.

Cynical? No, just realistic.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynicism_(contemporary)

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