Anyone who has children knows how difficult and exhausting it is to raise them. Unfortunately, our own educational experience with our own children disproves Jean-Jacques Rousseau's theory of Human Nature. If Voltaire was the mind (reason) behind the French Revolution, Rousseau was the heart (emotion). Ideas have consequences, and what was only suggested in Rousseau's texts was soon fully revealed in the writings of his followers. But it was a critic, Frédéric Le Play, who best expressed what I am trying to say:
“ The most serious and dangerous of these errors, the true mother of our revolutions, is the false principle that the innovators of 1789 intend to put into practice, which affirms original perfection. According to the adherents of this novelty, the child is naturally inclined towards good and only needs to follow its inclinations to be good and virtuous .” ( La Réforme en Europe et le Salut de la France , Pierre-Guillaume-Frédéric Le Play)
If only the Rousseauists were right! We parents would be like guardians of little angels, marching towards earthly Paradise. It is instructive, however, to note that not even Rousseau himself seemed to believe in himself; one only needs to examine what he did with his own children and how he rationalized his actions.
Furthermore, I take this opportunity to state, as Nelson Rodrigues would say, a Crystal Clear Truth: never, ever, has any man done evil except for “good” [1] . This is why deeds, transformations and changes should be evaluated by their results (fruits), never by their intentions.
This contradiction between what is said and what is done is recurrent in some people. And this, for childlike souls, is a true enigma. To my children, I taught: “When there is a contradiction between someone’s words and actions, always believe in the action [2] , because even parrots talk.” I remember them as little children, having fun and laughing at the talking parrot, without suspecting the depth of what they were learning.
What is astonishing, however, is the growing number of adults who, even in the face of contradictory actions, choose to believe the narrative. Perhaps they are subjugated by an overwhelming cognitive dissonance or, who knows, numbed by that irrational, yet profoundly human, hope that, in the end, everything will magically turn out alright.
But, after all, why trust in actions instead of words? Because, if the book of Genesis is correct, only the Word of God creates everything from nothing. Our words do not possess such power [3] . We, mere mortals, need to strive hard to make our actions give life to our words [4] , otherwise we will accomplish nothing, even though we have everything at our disposal.
This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Unicamp.
[1] As our poet Chico César immortalized in the opening verse of his song Deus me proteja : “God protect me from myself and from the wickedness of good people.”
[2] Or inaction.
[3] This does not mean that our words are devoid of power.
[4] When actions go against what was promised, they do not accomplish what was said and, on the contrary, generate the opposite result. A question then arises that cannot be ignored: what leads a person to act against what they say? Unfortunately, the answer lies in the inscrutable soul of the individual, a spectrum that extends from the purest and most crystalline stupidity to the most cruel wickedness disguised as kindness. Who can judge?
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