The definitions of GOOD and BAD are not clear to me

German lad running away from serving in the army in 1941 when Germany is winning and going from one victory to another is a hero and pacifist, but the same solder running away from German army in 1944 when the country death and destruction are obvious for everyone is a traitor.

In particular, the enormous complexity of definition of GOOD and BAD stuck me when learning the stories of Ukrainian youth running away from the service via Romania. Ok. They do not want to die. They talk about feeling no attachment to the country, feeling no obligation to the society and to the Government in particular. And I can’t put a cliche definition of their action. There are too many contradicting criterias of earnestly, liberty, fairness and obligation.

This is just one example, but I will add more examples here till I have enough material to generalize.

So far, it seems that GOOD and BAD can be defined in terms of PROUD. If I can tell the story of my actions openly and without any shame, the action taken was GOOD. Otherwise, if I’d rather forget and hide this part of my life – it was a BAD action.

[2025-11-05 WE 14:44] Another potential definition of good is that there is a person (other that you) or a group of people who consider your action as desirable and/or necessary. This other person or other group of people are not your future direct unborn children, as future unborn children are in essence you. That way for the first time a social component creeps into the definition of good and bad.

Example: in case of a German soldier defecting in 1944 from a loosing army,this solder not only trying to save his life, but also to minimize the senseless killing.