Sleep

It took me a bit of a while to settle down, but I think I slept until half past five, when I woke up with my brain in full gear. I lay there trying to get back to sleep, but instead I found myself thinking frantically about right and wrong. Of course there must be accepted standards of what is right and what is wrong. But then a little bit of thought is necessary. For example if something wrong is done, was the deed carried out maliciously or was it done through ignorance? And did the deed harm anyone else?
There are some cultures in the world where any transgression, however minor, is punished with corporal or capital punishment. Once upon a time it was like that here too. But nowadays it seems to be that often, the people who are paid to administer this side of things are not allowed to think about each case individually. It is not their job to think. It is nobody's job to think. These people act because it is their job to do so. They act on written or verbal instructions with no room for flexibility. So did the guards at the Gulags and the concentration camps. Of course these minor administrators are not committing acts of evil, but the mentality is identical.
When I looked at the clock it was nearly eight o'clock. I had been thinking all that time.