Nice guys finish last

You know why the mythology (and all too often, the reality, at times) goes that nice guys finish last?

Because so many people, perhaps most, are such shitheads, and they reward people like themselves far more than they are worth.

And their cynicism preys on the fears of all people that being good doesn't pay.

That fact of life fucks up the world more than any other. That and all of the excuses that we've created for what shitheads we are rather than just facing up. And noone takes responsibility, of course, because shitheads don't take responsibility for their fuckups. That's the nature of being a shithead.

And all of that would be forever true if being good didn't pay, of course. But the trick is that it does pay. Just long after all of the fucking up that gets in the way, in the meantime. And being good pays in ways that are important but not always material.

And nice guys (and girls) often finish last on material measures because they care more about the intangibles than they do the material. It's shitheads who care more about money or power or whatever bullshit they pursue instead of being a decent person and spending their time with other decent people and doing good for all kinds of people, decent or not. And, as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates demonstrate, nice guys working with money often finish first too.

Cynicism can take you only so far in this world.

And where it will never take you is in the direction of more genuine happiness.

That comes with being a decent person and spending your time with people who treat you well.

And, in that respect, nice guys and gals generally finish first every time.

And shitheads just never know what they're missing. Because they never bothered to look into what life was like on the other side. And, by that measure, it's pretty fuckin' clear to me just who comes in last.

Love,
Ben