Regardless of whether it’s arguing power corrupts, evil seeks power, or evil is more visible; this notion that evil isn’t pervasive is inconsistent with my lived experience. It’s not even that bad systems force mediocre people into taking several banal actions that culminate in mass suffering – that does happen, but there are a lot of just straight up bad people at every level of society. Even in the best communities I’ve been a part of there is a shockingly large number of selfish, egotistical pricks. Perhaps it’s a product of individualism without enlightened self-interest or an inability to see things from multiple perspectives, but the result is the same: suffering and conflict are pervasive throughout every level of every society.
Call it evil, call it economics or politics, call it whatever you want, but humanity seem to work best when we keep each other at arms length. Help each other, yes, but put a large amount of effort into not interfering with each other.
Regardless of whether it’s arguing power corrupts, evil seeks power, or evil is more visible; this notion that evil isn’t pervasive is inconsistent with my lived experience. It’s not even that bad systems force mediocre people into taking several banal actions that culminate in mass suffering – that does happen, but there are a lot of just straight up bad people at every level of society. Even in the best communities I’ve been a part of there is a shockingly large number of selfish, egotistical pricks. Perhaps it’s a product of individualism without enlightened self-interest or an inability to see things from multiple perspectives, but the result is the same: suffering and conflict are pervasive throughout every level of every society.
Call it evil, call it economics or politics, call it whatever you want, but humanity seem to work best when we keep each other at arms length. Help each other, yes, but put a large amount of effort into not interfering with each other.