What is right and wrong? Maybe one can never truly know the answer to that question, but they can feel bad about some actions and good about others. In his The Loss of Common Decency in American Culture, author James B. Twitchell writes about how shame, or the bad feeling one gets after doing a bad thing, is something that society needs to embrace to become better. He argues that is what makes people better themselves and the society should not be “ashamed of shame.” Twitchell also writes that “feeling bad is often the basis of a general good,” but is this true? Feeling bad about one's actions can make the world a better place by setting an example for others, teaching the person who feels bad to act better, and being incorruptible
When a person’s bad actions are brought to light and he or she is forced to face the bad feeling people get after doing something wrong it sets an example for the other people around him or her. Twitchell writes, “We need to be willing to say 'shame on you' to miscreants,” meaning that society should shame these people who willingly commit things they know are bad. Because being shamed is a bad experience, having it happen to bad people sets an example for the rest of a …show more content…
But that punishment might mean nothing without the bad feeling of having done something wrong to go along with it. In his The Loss of Common Decency in American Culture, James B. Twitchell writes that when people do bad things the solution is “not that they go to jail, pay a fine, do community service, but that they feel bad,” meaning feeling bad, not punishments, is what teaches people to be good. After all, if one is punished for a bad action, but feels no remorse, then their solution might be to just not get caught next time. That bad feeling they get, however, will not matter what push them in the direction a being good and in turn make society just a little bit