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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steampunkette" data-source="post: 9533611" data-attributes="member: 6796468">Foolishness, selfishness, or ignorance. You could delude yourself into sitting on a fence, convinced that being "In the Middle" is superior, but it's ultimately a foolish position. You allow evil to exist, or even assist evil, because you think good is "Just as Bad" as evil and vice-versa. It's the horseshoe theory of morality where good and evil are fundamentally the same thing and the only solution is to stick your fingers in your ears to the screams of the innocent harmed along the way because at least you're not the one harming them.This is, by it's nature, a fundamental misunderstanding of the conflict between good and evil in every story and also in reality.Good is a Reactive force. Evil is an Active force.In the status quo, good seeks to improve things for those most harmed in a society to try and bring up the worst-off. And they do this largely through altruism: Giving of themselves to help others. Sure that can mean fighting dragons and defeating liches, but it's also charity or working in a soup kitchen or building an orphans and lost puppies hospital and orphanage.Good responds to the ills that exist and selflessly gives of it's own attention, emotion, energy, and resources to fix the problems that exist.Evil, on the other hand, actively seeks to do harm. Evil bans books and makes discriminatory laws, evil attacks innocents and steals money or food or the candy from babies (not that babies should -have- candy, but you know what I mean). Evil is not a passive force, it is an active force that seeks to gain for itself regardless of whom it harms along the way.Good doesn't "Make Gains" against evil. Good fights when evil rears it's head, and the rest of the time it just chills out and helps people live their lives.Meet me in the middle, says the unjust man.Neutrals, even "Muscular" neutrals, favor the status quo. They'd rather keep the peace than seek justice. Even if that means allowing harm to continue or even explicitly taking part in harming others.At best neutrals are willing to push back when evil goes "Too Far", but are happy to let innocents suffer so long as it's not "Too Many" innocents. And there's no universe where that isn't a messed up way to be.And a fundamental misunderstanding of active and reactive forces.Yeah... There's very few versions of reality in which Neutrality is "Pragmatic". It's mostly just a bunch of fence-sitters allowing awful things to happen to "Someone Else". 'Cause as soon as the druid's grove is next on the chopping block -suddenly- evil has gone "Too Far" and must be fought against. Nevermind the villages and cities that have fallen to evil away from the grove...I think that's, in the end, the core of neutrality. Being uninvolved until threatened, -then- choosing a side. And they only consider the "Balance" threatened when good is winning the fight.</blockquote>

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