This is my philosophy...

www.kingofhits.co.uk/content/view/766/37/

Good post.

I think it is hard to percentage the goodness in society but I would say 99% of people are decent. less than 1% are bad.

But I think we are all capable of making mistakes and being bad - survival instinct for instance may make us nuts ( like in SURVIVORS ) who knows how we would react individually......

Some people are sadly Mentally Ill which clouds their judgements through no fault of their own. I would say than many people who seem to commit murders etc are in this group - and their moral compass is basically broken.

The truly evil are an incredibly small minority ( thank goodness ) or society would not hold together at all. Those who commit genuine crime ( not tory ministers or celebs !! ) are again in an incredibly small minority.

This is why the current "Terror" and "Fear" campaigns by our Governments dont ring true for most people and why the "big brother" state is not needed.

We need to show trust and value freedom. It is better to live one day like that than live a thousand in fear and with total restrictions.

One day Gordon Brown will realise that he is not GOD and he cant control the World - and even if he could why would the real GOD give freewill to people ?

The beauty of freewill is that is inspires some incredible selfless people to great things and creativity. Its downside is that we are all prone to making mistakes. That is why in a species which has FrEEWILL we need to actually work at forgiving each other - in the same way our God forgives us. By doing that we actually will smile more - enjoy our lives more and stop being eaten up by revenge and hate.

This forum is an example of how even in an industry which is seen as very consumerist most of us have the highest regard for freedom and love and all of us can live with each other regardless of race - religion - and beliefs and flourish.

An interesting viewpoint, JK, and on which I can concurr in one particular area because it probably ties up fairly closely with my own experiences of life "inside".
I don't really know what your own situation was, but I'd expect that, like me, you served your time on a VP wing.
While I was on mine- for the 6 months I spent, I got to know quite a few people who either shouldn't have been there for the very good reason that they were pretty obviously mentally ill or were there because "public opinion" would have been outraged had they received a community sentence. A very few were actually palpably evil {and there were some}, but most had more redeeming features than are usually credited to the "monster" that is the British Sex Offender in the eyes of the Great British Public. I found kindness, support and converstation in prison, something which would probably surprise the average Mail reader. In fact, apart from the surroundings and the bangups, nearly everything {and everyone} reflected a cross section of society at large. Your thoughts here are welcomed in at least this quarter. They serve as a reminder that we're all human beings, and we all have our parts to play. Thank you.

I think that, when we commit a crime, there must be a penalty to pay, but I also think that once paid we should be free to continue our lives. To continually persecute people, based on past deeds, is counter productive. If someone is so bad that they pose a constant threat to society, then they probably have a serious menatl condition and need to be in a secure hospital for as long as it takes. However, if we keep our eyes on those who have committed crimes in the past, we might miss seeing those who are committing crimes now. Police time taken up with monitoring offenders after release - which should be the job of probation anyway - is only distracting officers from doing the real job.

As for the social workers and the doctor in the Baby P case; I think it is obvious that they have failed in their positions of high responsibility. I don't think they deserve persecution, but they have been found incapable of doing the job and it is right that they should be be asked to go find another which is more within their capabilities.

5% of 60 million people...that's 300, 000 evil doers. Perhaps 20,000 of those are in prison...the rest in the police and government? 80-15-5...and Timmy Mallet. Accurate but disturbing statistics.

Your figures somewhat concur with studies done by the US army after WW2 to better understand troops reactions in battle.

They found that (roughly)up to 60% will obey orders , even reluctanty when it involves the kiling of the enemy. Some 20% will shoot over the heads of the enemy being unable to kill..10% will kill as best they can believing it necessary to defeat the enemy ( and can put themselves in the right frame of mind) and another 10% will kill with relish..the psychopaths who end up being repsonsible for the slaughter of civiians.

One rule taught to me when I took my first job at age 16 with a well known multi-millionaire..that any organisation has corrupt elements which you must always be aware of, and seek out that corruption and nip it in the bud.but if the head of any organisatin is corrupt (mad, bad and dangerous etc)the whole thing will rot from the inside until corruption is just part of the whole entity.