The_Good_Life

RadhikaSharma Page 1 English Mr. Gidaris September 30th 2010 The Good Life The good life can be defined in many ways and can be determined by many factors. However, with morality and a realistic view on life, it becomes easier for one to attain the “good life”. Having a realistic view on life prevents excessive want for material property, and prevents dissapointment if said property is not recieved. Morals help to regulate society, keep people out of trouble, and guide people through difficult situations. A combination of both aforementioned points are essential to creating the good life. Even though modern day society is considered to be non-hiearchical, people are divided into classes in sublte ways. People are divided into classes based on income, asthectic appeal, and athleticism amongst various other factors. For example, people who work in lower income jobs, do not have the same salary as someone who works in more demanding jobs, therefore one can assume that the person who works in the lower income job, has a lower standard of living in relation to the person who works at the higher income job. It is difficult for someone suffering from leprosey to become a super model, in the same way it is difficult for an obese person to become a professional athlete. In this sense, we see that our so called “modern day society” does discriminate and prevents people from attaining all their goals. Taking this into consideration, it is safe to argue that life is not fair. Factors outside of our control often determine our futures. Expecting that life will always provide the best situations and the best Page 2 outcomes will only lead to dissapointment and frustration. It is virtually impossible to always fulfill one’s wishes, demands, or desires. If the good life was defined as having lots of expensive material possesion, then because of the limitations that society imposes on us, it would be virtually impossible to have a good life. People are selfish by nature, and to remove the want of all material possesion is difficult, however, lusting after things outside of our reach will only lead to dissapointment. Therefore to have a good life, one must be realistic about their wants and their means of living. Morals are essential to leading a good life. Morals can be defined as core values. Morals are important for various reasons, but are mostly important because they assist in keeping people out of dangerous or difficult situations. If morals were not present in daily life, then life would be flooded with problems as a result of poor choices. Even if problems that are outside of our control, arise, morals can guide us through them to fix it. Morals are also essential to controlling society. To avoid people throughout life is an impossible task. People will always be apart of life. However, if these said people did not have morals, then society would crumble. For the betterment of everyone, it is important for everyone to have roughly the same morals. If everyone had similar morals, then there would not be a need for government. This is because people would simply do the right thing, and rules and laws would not be needed. However, this world is not utopian, and not everyone has the same morals, but by maintaining our own morals, we can avoid bad situations and better our society.