Sure, I like credit, acclaim, notice that helps me to justify my existence. I am Human. But I also realize, especially in hindsight, that the Essence of Goodness has absolutely nothing to do with my existence. The best I might work to do is to not, (as much as the next person), contribute to or withhold from the Human Condition. The Human Condition, on average, sucks. And I am so tired of hearing about these rich and powerful people who give so much money to charity; to help others; to make the world a better place. Giving is only half the equation. How much are they withholding? Keeping for their self? I have much greater regard for those living paycheck to paycheck, giving everything they've got to keep their family afloat.

We live in a system that prohibits Essential Goodness. We live in a system that equates goodness with acclaim. We live in a system that encourages bluster over thoughtful understanding. We live in a system that works very hard to maintain itself as is. We live in a system in which the reality of us and them is obscured by a belief that all of us are segmented into overlapping, inauspicious layers, pockets, enclaves, tribes of them; a belief perpetuated (politically and socially) by the reality of power and wealth. In 1881 Leo Tolstoy said: “I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means---except by getting off his back. It is really so simple. If I want to aid the poor, that is, to help the poor not to be poor, I ought not to make them poor.” Yet the system insists.

I believe that a person at their best is neither good nor bad, but rather lost in a circumstance that tends toward either lucky or unfortunate. My job as a Human is to work each day to improve my self thus perhaps improving my circumstance and maybe making things a little better for those who are lost alongside me. The Essence of Goodness is (simply put) a community effort to improve circumstance for all of us sans credit or blame. This qualifier, (no credit, no blame), is extremely difficult for Humans. In the greater global political communities many of us, (all of us in the U.S.), unfortunately find ourselves lost in a circumstance in which far more effort is spent on credit and blame than on actual improvement. And as long as the driver is power and wealth, this will not change. Sadly, more and more smaller communities have learned to mimic this atrocious, structurally unsound behavior that not only negatively impacts our present-day well-being, but also threatens our long-term survival.

It is understandable that one who is lost would seek shelter, and it is true that a boosted morale helps to increase one's resolve providing some protection from the elements. It is also true that this has nothing to do with the Essence of Goodness.