I used to think everyone had "good" in them when I was  very young. I have changed my miind after seeing all the cruelty I have seen. I no longer think everyone is inherently good.

Do you think people are inherently good?  Do you believe everyone is kind somewhere  on the inside?  What is the astrology behind your thoughts?

I am young so i think all are inherently good, however if i compare it with where i was when i was 15 it is contrasting. 

Yes, surd, things do change, don't they? I had the dream that everyone needed love to be "good" when I was very young and that was very wrong and a dangerous thought process.  Pisces again!

I believe that God is written on every human heart but people have free will and can opt to live however they wish.  So I would that everyone has the potential to be good, but also the potential to be evil.

As for the astrology - Libra and Cap.  Libra for the balance and Cap for the personal responsibility.

Great question.

I think it's a gamble.

ETA: As for the astrology, it is probably my 9th house Moon in Gem that feels this way. I think it's variable and dependent upon luck of the draw.

I agree that it's a gamble. Some people really will burn you!  It's sad to  me still.

I think people are people............

Come on, VA, good or not?

I think people will be what they want to be.......good, bad, ugly, mean, slow ,fast , angry, happy,,,,what ever they will be what they want to be.......whereas animals are more of just who they are, or what we expect of them.

I agree with what Elsa commented.

Well, are we talking about from birth??  Like innateley before the influence of external circumstances/people?

I'm much more inclined to say "yes" to this because IMO a newborn baby is as clean a slate as you're going to get - this is why I'm not big on the concept of "original sin".

The rest is a crapshoot - I think it depends heavily on the influences (circumstantial/parental) that surround the individual and their responses to this.  You can have crap circumstances and a rough upbringing, but if you have 1) a strong sense of morality 2) a willingness to accept personal responsibility for your responses to life,  you'll be OK.  These, I think, were the 2 things that helped me greatly in life and saved me from going down the wrong path - I can tell you that these  qualities were 100% innate and were not taught.  If anything, the opposite was what was modeled for me.

The astrology as to my POV on this?  Jupiter/Saturn conjunction that aspects most of my chart - isn't it obvious? 

"I no longer think people are inherently good"

Me too. It's not that I don't think they don't have the opportunity to be. I agree a lot with Elsa's comment regarding free will as well.

I guess I should say, I used to assume that everyone had the best of intentions. The best of intentions for all involved even though we may not understand or agree with their reasoning. THIS is not true.

I have Neptune conj MC and have had the veil dropped on this one many times..many many times.

so have  I, Josi!  The reality  of the situation has  hit me too many times!

Less so for every year I am alive. I'm not sure what the astrology would be. Perhaps Pluto transiting my 7th house?! :)

Speaking broadly, I think people are less "good" now then they've been in the past. We've lowered our expectations of ourselves and of others and this is the predictable result, if you ignore the individual and think in terms of masses of people.

"Speaking broadly, I think people are less "good" now then they've been in the past. We've lowered our expectations of ourselves and of others and this is the predictable result, if you ignore the individual and think in terms of masses of people."

Agreed..sadly

I don't know because I've seen truly evil things take place, and it makes me think that just most people are inherently good. The vast majority in fact. But I think that it's possible that there are truly "bad" people out there. That said, jury's still out.

I think people are born slightly more good than neutral, like just a hair over the line and that as time goes on than can become better or worse based on their experiences.

It's like those studies that find toddlers are altruistic. Humans are social animals, we're driven to contribute to the greater good of our clan. When things are good we contribute to the clan, and when things are rough we look out for #1.

I agree with Elsa and VA. Having choice makes it hard for us to be inherently anything. The terms of Good and Bad are subjective ideas we create and place on actions, thoughts, things around us. Since we have choice we constantly are at a crossroads to either do one or the other and since we have so much variation going on I don't think we can really fully predict which of the roads we'll end up taking. Unless I know the person is conciously choosing good most of the time.

But I do believe in potential. I honestly believe if a person truly wants to, no matter how much cruelty that person committed, they can do good and vice versa. I guess that's where the question of trust and faith in other people doing the good comes in :)

Sun in leo, Neptune Conj Jupiter  in 5th house. Merc in Virgo. I believe in optimistic analysis :)

When I was younger, I thought like you Annalisa (probably due to my moon conj. jupiter).  I do still believe there is good in 'most' people and that God is a part of us all.  And that it's our responsibility or our choice what we do with it (that'd be the same moon/jupiter in cappy, lol!).
Angie

I believe people are born inherently good and what becomes of them is a result of their environment/upbringing... that said though, I think I am a little delusional over how "good" the world is and when I hear of horrible things that give me a small glimpse of how bad things are it sends me into an anxiety filled frenzy.

I think people are less "good" now then they've been in the past. We've lowered our expectations of ourselves and of others and this is the predictable result

I have to agree with this, unfortunately.  A lot of people have no shame, and societal consequences for unacceptable behavior aren't what they used to be. 

The whole concept of "unacceptable behavior" isn't what it used to be; just yesterday someone at the library where I work threw her kid's dirty diaper on the bathroom floor and left it for us to clean up, and somehow in her head that's okay.

Yes, I do. I choose to feel this despite ample evidence to the contrary because I have to actively engage the Jupiterian part of my brain to prevent myself from turning into a nihilist.

I think we're good, but we're imperfect and we're not good all the time.

I also think we can be selfish bastards when we wanna be! LOL

I used to think people are inherently good. These days I would call that a "belief" as opposed to a "fact." I wanted to believe.

I agree with Elsa completely on this one. "We've lowered our expectations of ourselves and of others and this is the predictable result..."

My Neptune is being disabused of some of its delusions (what I used to call my naivete) these days...

The turmoil in my mind is brewing (and brooding) pretty hard on some essentials re: humanity, as a result.

After a childhood like mine you have no belief that people are inherently good - you just hope there are enough sanctions to keep most of them behaving in a civilized manner most of the time! I've not been disappointed, in the sense that people have mostly lived down to my expectations!

I don't really think people are that much different these days than they have ever been - those inclined to be decent still are (I don't need to lock my car nor my house in my own village, for example). There used to be very severe punishments for law-breaking - you could be hung, for centuries, for stealing a loaf of bread or transported for trapping a rabbit to feed your family. The sanctions are far less draconion now, and the chances of getting caught far less; so obviously people get up to all sorts of stuff just becuase they can get away with it.

And in the personal sphere , we've all been encouraged to believe that our own wishes and needs trump everyone else's inc our children's. There is no longer a strong moral code in any area really. Tax-avoidance, pilfering from the office and hotels - even places like hospitals! - is widespread, using the office phone or time for your own purposes likewise. Anything goes really...  

I've also read a lot of history. I think the existence of torture as an acceptable political or legal tool for so much of human 'civilization' is alone enough to tell us that humanity is not inherently 'good'. Every war, and esp every civil war, throws up new examples, and a study of the Amnesty webiste will tell you all you need to know...

No I don't.. and in fact I think there are a few that have no redeeming qualities whatsoever.. child molesters being a good example.

Past - used to assume people were inherently good as taught by my family and community, that kindness and love and beauty makes "goodness" that is universally sought.

Now - realize that people learn how to treat others well and be "good". some are also born more in tune with this energy than others, but mosly we are taught through the people around us how to express this. I think this is why the world seems nastier now because people are being taught that anything goes as long as you are effective - but goals and views differ.

learned that there are many types of good - moral, being effective, dutiful, truth, conformity, it really ranges, but there are higher and lower forms depending on how universal the perspective is. (But that's just me. probably the pisces speaking)

I tend to agree with you on this, GW.

Some of us are on the upward journey while others choose the downward spiral. What's up or down depends on which one you're on. 

I think most people have the capacity to be good.....unfortunately, that capacity sometimes goes unfulfilled.

it's hard for me to articulate it but i think people are inherently good in the sense that nature is inherently good. a lion feasting on a gazelle is not cruel, it is being a lion.

that said, i don't think it is in most people's nature to be kind. i think kindness is an exercise of free will that comes from some kind of wisdom, compassion, and humility, and most of us do not develop true kindness til after we've suffered and confronted the unfair reality of life.

somehow i think this is related to my 12th house saturn. not sure why. maybe i think if i could love/forgive anybody, even someone who caused my tremendous pain, i can transcend all suffering altogether.

Yeah, I do.

I agree with Elsa on this one.

Actually, what I've seen is that the very worst people on earth have just airtight rationalizations for what they do. Look at Germany during WWII.

Always an excuse. Not just an excuse, but an entire "Mein Kampf" length of rationale for their behavior.

After all, they had that whole "science" of eugenics telling them they were doing the right thing for ALL of humanity.

Beware, beware, I say, of all group think.

 Here's how it gets started. You want to participate but find that first, you have to agree to just this ONE LITTLE IDEA, or you can't join the group.

It's always just a little idea, and it's usually not such a strange idea either.

Actually, what I've seen is that the very worst people on earth have just airtight rationalizations for what they do. Look at Germany during WWII.

Always an excuse. Not just an excuse, but an entire "Mein Kampf" length of rationale for their behavior.

After all, they had that whole "science" of eugenics telling them they were doing the right thing for ALL of humanity.

Beware, beware, I say, of all group think.

 Here's how it gets started. You want to participate but find that first, you have to agree to just this ONE LITTLE IDEA, or you can't join the group.

It's always just a little idea, and it's usually not such a strange idea either.