The Cost of Doing What Is Right

Originally posted June 2017. A REFLECTION OF THE MOVIE FLASH OF GENIUS (2008)
I have been meaning to watch this movie for years, putting it off like a leaky faucet. You know, eventually you'll come around to it. Meanwhile, you've wasted all that water.
We spend our whole lives learning and teaching universal and objective truths of right and wrong, justice, fairness, equality, opportunity, always fight the good fight. We embed them into our very being and as we grow old, we seem to pass them on like over-used hand-me-downs, under-valued yet over-priced.
We hold on to them because we want to truly believe that every man will have his day in court, that all will be right, and that all that we have--our word and our name--will be valued for what it's worth.
And then, twelve years can go by in the blink of a windshield wiper during an incessant thunderstorm, and you can start to wonder if you've been sold a bill of goods. Are the demarcations of right and wrong written in permanent black marker? Do we live in a state of perpetual justice or injustice? Are our society and our social circles truly fair and egalitarian in terms of opportunity? What are the costs of always fighting the good fight?
We seek answers in a world of rhetorical questions. And then say we are seeking wisdom. And while it is true that it is always the right time to do what is right, doing what is right comes with fine print that we may not be willing to accept or endure.

~Michael DeNobile

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