I really enjoy the lower gas prices I pay today, lower prices are good right? But wait, my son does repairs on drilling rigs in North Dakota. Many of those rigs are shutting down because oil prices are falling too low. This means his income is going down. Bad right? But those who do have jobs can buy more stuff because they are not spending that money on gasoline; good right? But with more people out of work there are fewer people to buy stuff, bad right?
This is not a discussion as to the global pricing of oil. This is a reminder that we are quick to define what is good, and what is bad based upon our personal point of reference. The unemployed oil worker in the Dakotas who has been sending money to his/her family in Florida knows the fall in gas prices has hurt them, so does the family in Florida. John Q Public in California knows only that he is happy to pay less for the same gallon of gas. So, is the price drop good, or is it bad? It is both, and at the same time it is neither.
Do you get my drift?
In most instances things are, unto themselves, neither good nor bad exclusively. Might it be possible that we can say there are no clear, firm and immutable definitions for the words “good” and “bad”? Decide for yourself what is good and what is bad. Take the time to see how our entire planet is interrelated, interdependent. Remember the first law of physics: each action produces an equal and opposite action.
Simply stated: rushing to a conclusion as to the good or the bad of anything can be a rush to disaster. Chill dude!
