The good fight

 I have been watching a TV show called 'The good fight'. And it is making me depressed and sad. 

It is kind of a sequel to another serial called 'The good wife'. It is drama show about a law firm. And is full of satirical events of first term of 'the' US president. 

No, I am not going to write about some serial which makes me lose all hope of the future. Instead I want to discuss the term ' The good fight'.

What is a 'good fight'? 

All of us fight - constantly. I fight with my house help to get the cleaning done better. She fights with me to save her efforts. I fight with my spouse on many occasions. I fight with my neighbors when they try to bother me - which they perpetually do? Whose neighbor doesn't?

That is a small fight routine of an old, non-working woman who does not go out to the world. But you men and women have to fight constantly in the real world. You have to fight with your bosses for salary hikes, you have to fight with colleagues for better projects. You have to fight with other commuters on the road. (You don't? No, I am not talking about women.)  

All of these are essential fights for existence. For survival. Will these be called good fights? 

Leave adults - even children fight with parents for purchasing games and toys, for books, for going to friend's place. So do their parents. They have to fight with children to keep them safe and to save for a better future for them. 

Even babies fight. They fight to explore the world on their own. Discover the tastes of things on their own. Is that a good fight?

Or the fight is 'good' only if it is help others. Others who are helpless, who are destitute, who are in danger?  

A law firm can be fighting this kind of fight - if they take up such cases 'pro bono' ( free). A doctor can help treat poor people without charging them and fight the good fight. 

But on the other hand, the law firm or the doctor or the hospital has to survive too. It has to take clients - paying clients. Some times these paying clients of law firms are not exactly innocent. So like Robin hood - should the law firms take money from bad clients and use it help good and needy people?( I know, I should reduce watching court room dramas.)

If we think, even a rich corporation as big as google has to fight its battles for its survival. If Jeff Bezos is fighting for the survival if his company is it not a good fight?

And also people with ideologies - religious or national or socialist, firmly believe that they are fighting the good fight. Religious people say they are fighting the 'Dharma yuddha' or some other equivalent word. Even terrorist organization like ISIS is able recruit people because they convince that they are fighting the battle of God. 

Such kind of beliefs about good fight create cults and terrorist organizations and fascist regimes. Do you agree?

Even Bhagavadgita - which billions of Indians believe and follow, asks Arjuna - the Pandava prince, to fight the battle and kill enemy soldiers who are his own cousins, teachers, grandfather. 

So where do we draw the line? 

Is the fight ceases to be good the moment my conscience starts telling me otherwise? What if I have been a victim of propaganda and firmly believe in my 'cause'? What if people tell me that my God - Jesus or Krishna or Allah would want me to fight the battle? Can I disobey God?

Or do I look at the person or group telling me what to do in the name of ideology and try to understand their ulterior motive?