Deal With the Devil

            Is it worth it to trade your soul for something material?  Should you give up your soul for power, money, longevity, or even a superpower?  These questions are made on a daily basis, but on a much smaller scale.  Every day, you choose to do good or bad, be selfless or selfish.  People are bad and selfish to meet personal ends; in essence, bad things are done to achieve personal gains.  So it is quite true to say that humans make pacts with the devil every day. 

In actuality, it could be proven that good things are done for personal gain, too.  It may be going too far to suggest that making yourself feel better by doing good things is actually selfish, but if someone does good things with a selfish manner, it is virtually the same thing as doing a bad act for the same end. 

            So where is the line drawn?  What is considered a Faustian bargain in today's world?  Granted no one (okay maybe some people might try to) go into the woods to find Satan or otherwise summon Lucifer with the idea in mind that you will give him your soul in order to succeed in some respect, but if you do something such as steal for your own benefit (not pulling a Robin Hood of course), then society may deem that as making a Faustian bargain.  If kids (toddlers or around that age; not too old to know what they're doing) do something like steal, is that still a Faustian bargain?  Society creates standards to which they attribute actions, good and bad.  By abiding by this, little kids and those who don't (or can't) know what they're doing will not suffer overly-huge consequences that a fully-capable person would suffer for doing the same thing.  This raises the question, is the Faustian bargain dictated by the bargainer?  This is a likely conclusion.

            The Faustian bargain from the myths, like Dr. Faustus, may not exist, but society has given the idea its own meaning and application in the real world.  The Faustian bargain has thus changed drastically from Marlowe's 16th century understanding of it.  The more modern and civilized the society, the bigger the change to meanings.  In a civilized society, a Faustian bargain could not possibly apply to the innocent, and the devil could not possibly be hiding in wait for the next person to call to him with the intentions of selling his soul. 

The real point is that the Faustian bargain, however changed from the original meaning, still exists.  The risks and consequences of doing something that society has deemed bad, evil, or unnatural for personal gain are what constitutes a Faustian bargain.  While the consequence of making a Faustian bargain in today's world is not being pulled to Hell by demons, it still can be harsh and everlasting. 

            People can try to avoid doing things that are wicked, and not do things solely for personal gain, but it is human nature to provide for oneself.  This can be taken pretty far by doing nothing but selfish acts, but the person that does that already made a different deal with Satan.  Society has taught us to not be selfish, so maybe it was for something more than just manners and what's expected in humankind.  Deals are not always done physically, but can be done mentally due to an innate tendency to be a certain way.  You get what you want and deserve from the deals you make (or virtually make).  This deal is not sealed in blood, but it is still sealed with the "selling of your soul".