I'm not sure after reading this what 'good' and 'bad' even refer to. Is there some independent ethical principle to uphold, or is it merely a matter of obeying

I'm not sure after reading this what 'good' and 'bad' even refer to. Is there some independent ethical principle to uphold, or is it merely a matter of obeying the rules one is given? A truly difficult child will pester the parents about the quality of the societal ruleset they're supposed to obey, taking advantage of any obvious hypocrisy in the application of the ruleset, or internal contradictions, e.g. "so how come poor people go to jail for commiting a crime, when rich people just get a fine and don't have to go to jail?" Eventually the frustrated parent will give in and admit that human society is ridden with hypocrisy and contradictions, which is probably all the difficult child was looking for - some honesty. P.S. I think Bertrand Russell fits the definition of 'difficult' in this sense: https://harpers.org/archive/1932/10/in-praise-of-idleness/ https://harpers.org/archive/1932/10/in-praise-of-idleness/ > "All this is only preliminary. I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by the belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work."