All standards are arbitrary. This is why they must be standardised.
Madness string 1915
Bring me a bucket, and I'll show you a bucket!
The reason so many people misunderstand so many issues is not that these issues are so complex, but that people do not want a factual or analytical explanation that leaves them emotionally unsatisfied. They want villains to hate and heroes to cheer - and they don't want explanations that do not give them that.