The society we live in is becoming a place that incentivizes evil over good – and we are seeing corruption and coercion on a mass scale to keep it that way. The current justice system, government, and even encounters with strangers incentivize people to do wrong, regardless of the moral implications. The amount of injustice for good in just the last five years has been astounding, whether it be political injustice, disproportional overreach of government, and maybe most disturbing, good people being held accountable for things they did not do while the people who were responsible for the actual evil walk free.
The current system does not promote traditional values. In the reward-based society that we’ve become, there is no visible or tangible reward for upholding good morals, whether that’s defending someone in danger on the street or simply not cheating on your spouse. The golden star sticker has adorned the top of our papers for too long, and we are used to praise for doing the minimum. Even through systems of leadership, those fittest to lead don’t always get the job. Most people running for office are no longer emulating the Socratic concept that those who do not want to lead will make the best leaders; instead, we have a social media-driven society built for those who want fame to find it how they can. The system itself is built to incentivize this behavior because evil thrives on chaos, and placing people in office who will contribute to it and perpetuate the mission of the chaos is critical to its survival.
Officials like the ones we saw recently in the FBI whistleblower hearing openly conflating facts and making accusations that only push the narrative. American heroes across many different categories are being thrown into the ring in case it helps their interrogation when in any other generation, these people would be celebrated. The system they went to work for, to bring truth into light, turning against them and becoming an example of the system completely discouraging people from doing the right thing.
It’s painfully obvious that these people are trying to do the right thing for their country, but they’re being questioned by the left like criminals – dissuading others from standing up and doing the same. The uninformed puppets like Rep. Dan Goldman asking them angled questions to produce a headline and degrade good patriotic people and their values in the process, all for their own agenda. These people are not leaders.
Another example is the recent case of Daniel Penny subduing Jordan Neely, potentially saving many people on the New York subway from an assault or worse, but being treated like a criminal for acting in self-defense. Witnesses attest that the man raging on the subway was violent and that they were scared for their lives. That Neely said, “I don’t care if I have to kill a f******, I will. I’ll go to jail, I’ll take a bullet.” The witness also stated that Penny is a hero and was distraught at the end result, staying for the consequences of protecting people he’d never met.
Also worth noting, Neely had 42 previous arrests, including for assaulting people on the subway. While these situations are complex, men like Daniel Penny used to be celebrated as heroes once the newspapers were printed. Now, however, New York is an epicenter for judicial excess and political retribution, discouraging good people from acting for their society or for the greater good of others. The Soros District Attorney Alvin Bragg is leading the charge from the top down. It is plain to see the two-tier system and the rotting of due process before our eyes.
I don’t believe in complaints without solutions – I believe that there are the strong few, and in such a time as this, we need those strong few to stand up and start a trend towards the greater good, convicted in their beliefs. There are people working every day for this country, sacrificing their time and their peace. It is also our responsibility to hold the line of incentivizing the greater good in this climate and being the force for it – it’s clear no one is going to do it for us.
Alexis Wilkins is a multi-faceted country music artist and published writer, writing both her own music and economic and political pieces.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.