Assholedness

Here is a problem I have struggled with my entire life: pricks. Real dipshits. The kind of people that, very clearly, have no interest in doing the right thing, and have managed to manipulate the world around them so they can get exactly what they want in life, usually by crushing the dreams of others. There are generally two varieties of these fuckfaces: unaware and self-aware. Both are very dangerous in and of themselves.

The unaware nimrod is a mean-spirited idiot. They are genuinely stupid, and don't even realize the extreme nature of the lame shit they do on a regular basis. In fact, realizing anything connected to the consequences of their own actions is a skill they don't even know exists, let alone realize that they haven't cultivated. In an extremely moronic way, they genuinely believe that the entire world exists to please themselves, and stumble through life trying to fulfill every whim and desire, because they don't understand this is a jackoff move.

The self-aware rat bastard recognizes that their actions hurt other people, and relish that thought when they do.

On the whole, most of the people I know fall into the former category. Occasionally I've had to do battle with a few in the later, but they really are less common in my experience. Ironically enough, there doesn't seem to be a political component to this equation. While I love to pick on Dick simply because his is a self-aware assrat, I have met people of every political inclination who enjoys dickheadedness, and a surprising number of Left Wing people end up being in the self-aware category, while on the whole the Republicans I've met personally are so dim-witted as to suggest that they just don't know any better. But that's neither here nor there; my point is, assholes abound.

Anyway, my big struggle in life has revolved around the following conundrum: is it worth telling someone, even if they are self-aware, that they are a prick? I have had it ingrained that you should always try to be the better person, to turn the other cheek, and all that bullshit. But there are a number of scenarios where it would be entirely satisfying to just tell someone who had dicked you over, "You. Yes, I'm talking to you. Everything you do are the actions of a real, total, and complete asshole, and I would like to introduce you to a number of people who agree with me. When I say asshole, I mean that you have very little redeeming value in our culture when you act like that, and it is no wonder that you are lonely, ugly, and disgusting." It would be incredibly satisfying, don't you think?

The reason I ask is that I have recently been vindicated after mistreatment by a gigantic, unaware prick. This guy is just on the edge of awareness, though, and with a little push, I think I could really make him feel awful about what he's done, to the point where he would carry it with him for a couple of years, possibly. (He fancies himself a nice guy.) Not only that, but there is a large line of people behind me that agree, and would love to see him suffer. I am also in a position, now, to make a choice about what to do next. I have the ability to explain to him, consequence free, his fucktardness, and would probably even find support in doing so, or at least other people who feel similarly, and would point and laugh that he finally got his comeuppance.

So: is it worth it to be the better man in this situation? A large part of me says yes. But my inner asshole really wants to be a gigantic prick this time around.