As the story goes, somewhere in the mountains, a man was walking alongside a road, when another man riding a horse, galloping quickly, left him in a cloud of dust. The man yells at the rider: "Where are you going?" as he appeared to be going somewhere important, but the man on the horse yells back, "I don't know. Ask the horse." 

It's a story about how people go through life riding the horse of their habits, or of their daily tasks, with no idea where they’re headed. So with the new decade and all, I felt like this new year's objectives deserved a greater overview.

What I wish(ed) for the most, the main goal of my actions, is to be happy, make other people happy, and how incredible would it be to create something that could make bad people become good.

I can't think of a more deserving purpose than being able to make someone that is hurting other being(s), to stop, regret their actions and change into being incapable of hurting others.

So how can a bad person become good?

1. Reduce their fear and suffering

I firmly believe poverty brings out the worst in people and problems like divorce rates, alcoholism and many other would be solved by the Guaranteed Minimum Income (a system of social welfare provision that guarantees that all citizens have an income sufficient to live on).

No one asks to be brought into the world and as long as we are allowing people to be born into it, we should also provide them with enough to live a decent life. Some will be demotivated to work, but that's just some types of personality, there are at least 16 types, all driven by different motives.

2. People change when situations change

I know someone who changed significantly for the better after moving into a new country and was able to leave his past behind and rebuild his life and his image. So I think you care more, and strive more to do good, when you have more to lose. Maybe also when you feel part of a community, instead of alienated.

3. Reward good behaviour

As a society we tend to punish more than we reward. For example, I always found it strange how you get tickets when you over-speed but don't get anything after let's say 5 years without any tickets. If we can somehow reward good people and good actions more, we would make the decision making process easier when someone is deciding on whether they should do the right or the wrong thing.

4. Acknowledge bad behaviour

"One will only understand the gravity of the heinous crimes committed by him only if he is acknowledged as a criminal by the society. If the society fails to do so, then even after committing these crimes he will be treated as a normal man and he himself will take no shame in his past deeds."

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For some, goodness arises from the awareness that we are all the same inside. For others from believing in religion or karma. Feeling guilty or feeling connected. A life-changing event. A role model. A newfound sense of empathy.



I'm sure there are many other ideas out there on this subject.

How do you think a bad person can turn good?