G vs E

What's the difference between good and bad?

Well in simple, somewhat relative terms, I'm good.
And the heroin addicts, murderers and burglars with whom I regularly hobnob are bad.

The trouble is, I don't really believe it.

So how are we going to tell the difference?

Well, if you have given this as much deeper intellectual thought as I have then I'm sure you have come to the same inevitable conclusion as me. Namely, you are going to need to make them watch The Karate Kid 3.

(Other 80s movies may work but have not been formally approved for the purpose. Any of them that ends in a freeze-frame with somebody punching the air is a good substitute. You will find ITV2 a rich seam of alternative reference material. Basically start with Teen Wolf and get back to me if you have any difficulties).

So, in our template Karate Kid 3, the good guys will side with Danny LaRusso and Mr Miyagi (white karate uniforms).
And the bad guys will side with John Kreese, and the tall fellow with the ponytail (black karate uniforms).

(Now obviously I'm dumbing this down a bit for the layman because I know full well that the karate uniform is called a Gi, because I used to learn karate.
It wouldn't be fair to tell you what belt I reached. But suffice to say when you buy a Gi, it comes with a free white one).

But I don't think good sides with good and bad sides with bad in that way.
I bet real-life bad guys side with Ralph Macchio and Mr Miyagi as well. I bet they see themselves as heroes. Even if its heroes in need of redemption.
The occasional psychotic aside, I bet they're not cheering when Danny gets a kicking. But I bet there's a tear in the eye when he gives one.
Karate Kid 3 has a strong sense of justice. When Peter Cetera wrote "I am a man who will fight for Your Honour", that wasn't just a song he wrote about a magistrate.

I don't think I'll expand on this.  You get the point.
And obviously I want to catch the climax again on ITV 2+1 (It does get me every time!).

But I'll deposit one more thought. It's been a recently explored concept that we are more than our heavily advertised 5 senses. Rather we are many.
But I'd like to add one to the ever-expanding list.

From deep, deep, deep, inside is the visceral scream that is the hallmark of a strong sense of justice. And injustice.
It silently gnaws, mildly irritates, and is becoming increasingly irrelevant and counter-productive in this modern world.

It still rears its head occasionally but has largely been relegated to movies, where it can be boxed and mocked, where people can claim it's not real, well, istic.
But it can still control the margins of many an existence, the corners of a brain and if you're a man of faith, you may pray that it makes the occasional guest appearance in our illustrious legal system.

The sense of justice is the recognition of the difference between good and evil, and the grey strands that connect them.

And when it is sharply focused in the mind, it creeps like a searing wave over any internal organ you care to mention.