What’s so special about leading The Good Life? Why is it important to consider?
I think there are two answers to these questions: one inward-facing and another facing outwards, toward society.
Facing outwards first, The Good Life makes a positive contribution to society. It helps, even if in small ways, to make the world a better place. Not in the sense of making the world more prosperous, since one could say that John D. Rockefeller or Andrew Carnegie, two of the greatest of the robber barons of the late 19th century, created prosperity by building industries that continue to thrive today. Arguably they brought prosperity to lots of people (to themselves, first and foremost, of course), but I wouldn’t say they exemplified The Good Life. Greed and avarice probably played as much of a role in their drive to success than did anything else; I seriously doubt that concern for their fellow man was the primary motivator! Of course, Andrew Carnegie devoted most of his later life to a remarkable philanthropy (reflected today course of in Bill Gates and Warren Buffet). While this is clearly a very good thing, all in all (building great big things, making lots of money and creating industry, whether you give it away at the end or not) it’s not what I mean by living The Good Life; I’m thinking of something much more personal. To say it differently, I don’t know if Rockefeller, Carnegie or even Gates and Buffet lead (or are leading) The Good Life, but I certainly would not make a judgement based on their wealth or power. Furthermore, lots of people can lead a Good Life without ever amassing a fortune.
A Good Life makes the world a better place in a myriad of ways, I think. First, little things like being courteous and kind to others. Helping people in need. Holding an elevator door. Genuinely listening. Having a smile for a co-worker. Being nice to dogs. (And yes, even cats.)
Sometimes things not so little as well: genuinely trying to see things from an opponent’s perspective. Recognizing (and publicly admitting) our own biases and mistakes. Compromising when a consensus must be reached. (Aside: I’m not suggesting that abandoning one’s principles is a good idea; in fact the opposite is true if one wants to lead the Good Life; sticking to principles against societal pressure is in fact one of the key hallmarks of The Good Life!)
So there’s lots of ways that The Good Life improves the world around us, but I think it’s also important for what it does for us inside. I think each of us has the desire to be considered a good person. We want to be considered trustworthy, loyal, a good companion; maybe even a mentor or leader. I think it’s a very human trait that we all share. We like companionship; being a loner is generally considered odd. I think we inherently recognize that if we want to be accepted as part of a group (any group) there are certain traits we need to exhibit; these traits are what help us to be a good person as well. Granted, not everyone is successful at this, and some fail miserably, but I think, in general, most would agree with me. Since we want to be “good people,” there is obviously some image of what that means. Maybe we think of a specific individual we look up to and want to emulate that person; maybe it’s someone (a parent?) we want to be proud of us. Or maybe it’s even some “ideal” that may not exist in real life. This last is getting close to the Platonic “form” that I think is kind of at the core of this whole “Good Life” philosophical chain, but that’s for another entry.
However this happens, I think an introspective attitude or personality is necessary to have any control or influence over the person we are or hope to become. Think about it. If we don’t take time to examine who we are and, more importantly, who we want to be, we never have the opportunity to set standards for improvement. I think this is part of what Socrates meant when he said “The unexamined life isn’t worth living.” While an introspective personality makes it a natural process, people without an introspective nature can train themselves to look inward, compare who they are (as objectively as possible) with who would like to be, and move toward their goal.
And maybe, in the process and over course of a lifetime, try to set the bar just a little beyond reach, and by striving to reach it, become better for it and maybe make the world a tiny bit better place to be.
