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8th Grade WinnerThe
Most Philosophical 8th Grader in America Eva
Westley Minneapolis,
Minnesota Is the Nature of Humankind Good or Evil?
Is the nature of
humankind good or evil? Is that even a fair
question? I’d say that humankind is both
good and evil. If the nature of humankind
were good, we would have peace on earth, no hunger, no pain, and no strife. If the nature of humankind were evil, most of us
wouldn’t be alive right now. There
would be no laughter, no children, and no music.
When we are
brought into this world, we are good. We know
nothing else. Our parents holding us and
rocking us is enough. We aren’t greedy,
we aren’t cruel, and we aren’t afraid. As
a child grows older, they become more “evil.”
Suddenly, there is fear. Genuine
fear. The nightmares kick in, the monsters
under the bed, the idea of robbers, and your own parents abandoning you. The fear is what brings evil into a child’s
mind. They feel they must defend themselves
against that something, or that someone. So
they lash out, and they are no longer purely good. Once
a child reaches their teen years, the fear becomes even more of a factor. It grows into social issues. The fears are no longer of monsters or aliens; you’ve
become afraid that you are not good enough. Then
you set out to prove that you are worthy. In
order to pull yourself up higher into this world, you must constantly be pushing others
down, deeper and deeper. Or perhaps you are
the one being pushed down, and you must struggle, and fight to get back up. Either way, this brings out the evil in all of us.
Adults can be
more evil than good, too. They have gone
through teen years. They have struggled. They know what goes on in the world; wars, guns,
terrorism, gangs, fights, and drugs. Adults
have to carry a huge weight on their shoulders, knowing that they are the ones who can
change the world, and try to turn it around. Sometimes,
they just want it to get done. They just want
to be done with their job, done with their family, and get away from it all. This can seem “evil.” They try so hard to make the world better, and
soon. But changing the world is not a fast
process. And the adults that hurry to make
the world better for their own children and families often end up making it worse for
others.
Then you grow
old. And all of a sudden, it will make sense
to you. Your wise eyes will see the world
differently, as they watch all the people rush around and around, trying to make something
of themselves. And you will finally realize
that the good is the only thing that will matter in the end. Once you have grown old, you will have time to
look into your heart, and find what is really there.
And though horrible things happen on earth, at the end of your life, you
will find that you are a good person. Everyone
does bad things, it’s a part of who we are, as humans.
But deep inside of us, our spirit is not evil. Our spirit strives to make ourselves whole, and it
strains and it strains so hard, that sometimes it will forget others. The result is often evil. But deep inside of our souls, no human is evil.
In conclusion,
though I believe that all humans do have some evil in them, the nature of humankind is
more good than evil.
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