What I am learning

I've been wondering a few things about my life, why things don't work the way I want, and I'm coming to a few fairly unpleasant conclusions:

• It's ok to torture people. Don't worry, you won't get in trouble for it. Why?
• If you're just a grunt, you were just following orders, so it's ok.
• If you were in charge, you can keep it under wraps until the next administration comes along, and they'll sweep it under the rug for you.
• It's ok to ruin people's lives financially by taking inherently stupid risks. Why?
  • The government will just give you more money to play with, and make future generations pay the bill.

It seems to me that people actively try to not think for themselves, and they like getting screwed. I was raised to think that being aggressive was wrong, that I should play nice, but it seems to be that's wrong. That being aggressive is how to get what you want, and the bigger the dick you are, the more you get away with it.

I was raised to think for myself, which means I don't tend to like being told what to do, and I was raised to be nice, which means I tend to think that telling other people what to do isn't right. This combination leads to one very, very frustrated man.