Guilt

"Guilt is the emotion or belief that one has done something wrong. From a legal perspective it can also refer to the condition of having done something legally wrong, regardless of how one feels about it."

Now this is an interesting human condition, and alas it is found in the animal kingdom too, how else can you describe the expression in the picture above?

There are various forms of guilt, including collective guilt - guilt as in after the destruction of Europe and the extermination of the Jews, Freemasons, Gays and other less fortunate souls (and hereby I am by no means equating these groups) that did not fit in with the Uber-plan of the Nazi Reich. Also that collective guilt of the white minority in South Africa after voting in the oppressive apartheid regime for decades.

But the most fundemental guilt we at times feel, is that of pressures, even peer pressures, from those that one would call friends. Why is it that one feels a great sense of guilt when you want to do something special with one friend and the other/s look at you with soulful eyes saying "Hey, what about me? Have you forgotten about me? What did I do to deserve this?" Ad Nauseum...

Now for all those who possibly know me, the question might come up: "Why is he rambling on about this subject?" Well read between the lines those who make others feel guilty uneccessarily - fucking grow up! I myself had been guilt-ridden a few times this past week when I zoomed past some poor person sitting on the pavement in my flashy convertible, should I not have stopped and offered this unfortunate person something to eat or drink? Maybe he/she was just having a rest and did not need my mingling in his/her affairs! And hell do I feel guilt when I break the sound barrier in a 120km/hour zone! I also feel guilty that I do not see some of my friends and family more regularly - but it is a question of dealing with it in a calm manner.

If humanity could give 1c for every guilt trip every person has on a daily basis, we could feed every living being on this planet and do away with poverty, whether in Darfur or Rio de Janeiro.

In the old days in Greece the accused was permitted to propose his or her own remedy, which might in fact be a reward, while the accuser proposed another, and the jury chose between. This forced the accused to effectively bet on his support in the community - as Socrates did when he proposed "room and board in the town hall" as his fate. He lost, and he drank hemlock, a poison, as advised by his accuser. It was Socrates' own Socratic Method of examining the moral concepts of Good and Justice which got him into trouble. He was nevertheless found guilty for corrupting the youth of Athens and admitted in court that he could have avoided the trial by abandoning philosophy and going home to mind his own business.

Which is what I am going to do now.