“I’m a good man,” he said. “You can measure my goodness by counting the number of people who believe that they have deceived me or have taken advantage of me. The reality, however, is the contrary. I am the one who has deceived them and taken advantage of them by being a good man.”

“I’m a good man,” he continued. “But that doesn’t mean I’m a weak or cowardly man. My kindness is often perceived as naivety, I know. When people ask for my help, I help them. When people charge more for their services, I pay them. When people want to use me as a scapegoat, I let them. And I know what it looks like to you. It looks like I’m helping the lazy do what he ought to be doing, paying the thief extra for ripping me off, and sacrificing myself for people who do not care about me. To you, it looks like they are taking advantage of me in broad daylight. But the reality is not how you see it.”

“I’m a good man,” he continued. “Yet, although it was never my true intention, I have punished the lazy man by doing his job, punished the thief by handing him the money he asked for, and punished the coward by sacrificing myself to save him. And if you do not see how I have punished them, then you have not yet had the opportunity to see true good and true evil.”

“I’m a good man,” he repeated. “And whether I’m dealing with good men or evil men, I always do the good thing. Whenever I can do good, I’ll do good. But I can see it in your eyes now, yes, I can see that you can no longer understand what good is and what evil is, can you? You live in a world beyond true good and evil. You live in a world of economic good and evil. We live in different dimensions. It’s only a coincidence that we drink in the same pub.”

This piece was first published on my Substack on September 12, 2025.