Sometimes It Feels Wrong To Be Right
When The Uninformed Majority Have The Upper Hand
Introduction
Something came to mind yesterday due to everything that is going wrong at the moment (don't worry it is all manageable) just about how those that shout the loudest almost always get the credit and belief of people. They don't have to be right, just louder than anyone else.
The Incident And One More
There was an Elvis concert playing on the pub TV and one of the guys said the introductory music was from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst (he didn't know Holst's first name).
I corrected him and said it was "Also Sprach Zarathustra" which was composed by Richard Strauss. The guy immediately had to show his alpha male superiority and told me to "Shut the F**k Up" as I didn't know what I was talking about, so I said, "Well which piece is it from 'The Planets'".
That didn't go down too well as he did not know the various pieces in "The Planets" so just reiterated his first attack on me. Then all the others out backed him up and told me to keep quiet.
So I was right, he was wrong, but he had the rest of the crowd backing him, so I backed down.
Another time I was working for a company and one of the directors was giving a lucrative contract to an acquaintance of his. I had negotiated an extremely good price (much lower than his friend's was) for the product from a major supplier.
This is what he said "You might be right, but I'm in charge"
So once again being right didn't do me, or everyone I was trying to help any good.
However, I knew that I was right and had done all I could.
I always intend to do what is right, even in the face of people like this.
Keeping Being Right
In real life, we see this all the time, especially in politics. Bad politicians are often defended by the "All politicians are the same" and "They have it so hard" mantras.
My response is that all politicians are NOT the same and they are paid a wage to do a job and deal with whatever comes their way efficiently.
There are many politicians on both the left and right who are good people who work hard for their constituencies, but they are not the ones that you normally hear about, it's the ones that make the biggest noise regardless of whether they are trustworthy or can be bothered to actually do the job.
Again a huge number of people just accept the lies, often because they do not want to be seen as rocking the boat, or even just can't be bothered because it is more important to watch something on TV.
Conclusion
Sometimes it will feel like doing the right thing makes you feel like you are making the wrong decision. If you always take a moral stance then most of the time you will do the right thing.
People who decide to say nothing so that they do not rock the boat will believe that they are doing the right thing because it makes their life easy. I don't advocate that you generally try to make your life hard for the sake of it, but sometimes you should make a stand against the liars and cheats who harm others in the name of benefitting themselves. Remember that they can only do this because no one questions them or calls them out on what they do.
I hope this has given you one or two things to think about and I will leave you with a few books on the subject of taking the right path.
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Comments (10)
I have found that so often those who consider themselves the most righteous, especially as they look down on others, to be mostly "wrongteous" (including me) & the furthest from the gospel, the truth & anything good, & that those who raise their voices the loudest (including me), are those least deserving of being heard.
This article really got to me. I am socially disabled by a natural love for everyone, and very often find myself in situations similar to the ones you spoke of. Typically I wind up looking like a deer in the headlights and then walk away, feeling downtrodden and misunderstood. I am very impressed that you are able to let people be wrong. That is a difficult fence to jump over. This was great reading and it put me deep in thought. Great work!
I was discussing this with a friend the other day. We agreed that we live in a world where we are encouraged to defend what we see as right, even if we know that we are actually wrong, over healthy debates. Personally, I don't really pay attention to obnoxious people. If they want to be right, despite my attempts at trying to make them see the light, I'll let them be and wish them a great day. I don't usually waste my breath trying to argue with nincompoops. LOL!
Regarding the pub example, you're a better man than me. I'm not one of those ones that can be happy knowing I'm right. I'm more the type to grind someone into submission because they need to know I'm right too. I'd argue with a statue and make it crumble at my feet. Doing the right thing can be can be difficult as can speaking up about wrong doing. People fear conflict and don't want to go against the grain. I'm not one of those people. I get into a lot of trouble that way. I'm okay with it. Well done. I really liked this story.
Excellent work Mike!
Great message 💬 ❤️❗
I agree with Heather. Sometimes there's just no point. I know people personally who would rather be wrong than admit they don't know. And yeah, they are the loudest.
I appreciated your thoughts on this and that you do stand up for what is right. I have a very hard time not pointing out when things are wrong, but sometimes, when you know the audience will not accept what you have to say due to stubborn pride, it feels futile. Thank you for sharing these honest interactions, thoughts, and experiences :)
Important message!
😊🙌Valid insights. I’ve personally struggled with this in the past, now I perhaps don’t stand up quite enough..