What is right?
Human rights, law, money, they all seem rational right? Well, they are not innately here in the world, they emerge because humans want and need them. I am not saying they are erroneous, but rather, they are not as unmove-able as most believe. When we talk about equality – from gender to race – we often think they are supposed to be true. This is why celebrities get applauded for just standing on this side while ones who chose to be rivals or skeptics of it often come under fire. This might be reasonable, but do they deserve to be lambasted blindly? To me, it’s a no. As they are all fertile imagination just like the book said. Why is equality a must in society? Even if we are “born equal” according to certain religions, we are living in different environments with different cultures and people. We would thus “evolve differently” and have different levels of human capital – education level, physical strength, and moral values for instance – how can we necessarily be equal?
We once thought that monarch is the irrefutable answer, but in the span of thousands of years, we see numerous dynasties and kingdoms falling and flourishing. This would not be the answer if it keeps getting rebutted, and eventually abolished. These are like thoughts we have after breakups. We want to believe our boy/girlfriends are loyal and would never hate you, although this might be valid in some cases, this is just imaginations we hold to seek solace.
We would say Napoleon is the key factor for the success of the French Revolution, but history seldom depicts “losers” and “failures” as “crucial”. Throughout history, we can see that these imaginary orders are sustained by violence or preaching by true believers. Although I can’t say they are necessarily wrong, they are definitely maintained via “inhumane” ways.
Wars like Crusades or the Inquisition are sparked mainly due to discrepancies in various beliefs of religions. In order to sustain and glorify one’s belief, violence is required. While some conjecture that the acts were sheer atrocities, some believe they were misinterpretations and misused means to express their fervours. To prevent myself from intruding on people’s sensitive areas, I will just point out that whether a thing or action is “right” is only a matter of perception. Nazism was blatantly supported by the German (part of) back in the 1940s. Now, no one would dare to do any gestures remotely close to nazi’s right hand salute. Are they wrong? Yes in the modern day era; preposterous in the age of Nazi. Who’s right then? Neither but both. It’s the general/mainstream cultures and ideologies that determine the validity of these historical events. They are all imaginary orders – just like human rights and capitalism – only when people believe in it will they become “right”. Beliefs are way more fragile than you think… but also more solid than you think.9
