I should start by saying that evil, true evil, is a rare thing in the world. I know that some give “evil” a very broad meaning to encompass damned near every selfish act. But this destroys the concept; when stealing a cookie is “evil” and murdering six million Jews is also “evil”, the concept is meaningless. Some have decided that since the word is abused and misused and we are all, in fact, only human, the concept doesn’t exist. But I think evil does exist. So I suppose I better define it.
Evil is the purposeful act of maliciously wielding calculated power over human beings for self gratification.
This is why Ted Bundy is different in our minds than a man who kills another while in a rage. This is why a corrupt policeman is far worse in our mind than a man who robs a liquor store. The military dictator, the serial killer, jihadists, the child rapist, ENRON, companies that knowingly dump toxic waste into rivers, and child molesting priests are all cut from the same cloth. They all are obsessed with power at any cost over others.
The other thing they have in common is they believe they are superior to all others.
Evil is a human act. There is more than sufficient evidence to show that humanity is perfectly capable of committing acts of evil on our own without any help from Satan or malign spirits. It is not a force in nature, it is not some compelling mystical energy, it is a willful act of brutal power over another.
And it is rare. All of us sin, not many of us are evil. Most people in the world, it seems to me, just want to live out their lives. They want to work at jobs they don’t hate (or win the lottery so they don’t have to), have some friends and family, and to be left alone from outside forces. Most people in the world don’t dream of having power over others (even though the news would have us believe so) and just want to live.
For purposes of clarity, I will divide evil into two sub-types: “socially evil” and “anti-socially evil”. The “anti-socially” evil person is almost always a loner and believes that all of humanity is a stinking cesspool and needs to be destroyed. Because he believes himself to be superior to all others (why do they never include themselves in this “cesspool” is beyond me), he believes himself to be this agent of destruction. Whether conscious or unconscious, whether the form of murder or sexual assault, the point is about wielding power over the “common man” who he finds repulsive. The only thing to do with the “anti-socially” evil is to hunt them down and remove them from society (either kill them or put them away forever)
But this civic rambling isn’t about “anti-socially” evil. It’s about the “socially evil”. Who are they? These are the people who believe that society exists to be exploited. These are the people who believe the organizations, laws, cultural institutions and machinery of civilization exist to be manipulated, warped and ruined in order to gratify their own lust for power. This is the TV Evangelist who uses the religious institution to make himself unfathomably wealthy. This is the policeman who uses his authority to abuse others and steal their belongings. This is the lawyer who finds loopholes in the law to set a child rapist free and collects a fat fee. This is the CEO who makes millions while destroying the lives of those who work for him and made him wealthy.
Though these people are a tiny minority of human beings, they are the people who make it impossible for the rest of us to be truly and completely free. The human race is not the poison of this planet; it is these few who lay awake at night thinking of new and improved ways to increase their own power at the expense of others.
There are certain occupations that attract socially evil people. Of course, they can be found in every walk of life but some jobs are more compelling than others. These are jobs that by their very nature wield power over others. Jobs like being judges, lawyers, policemen, soldiers, celebrities, pastors and priests.
And finally, the number one job that attracts the worst sorts of people possible? Ta da! You guessed it, the politician. Why would someone want to be a politician? Why would someone want to hold the hammers of power over another? Yes, some do because they want to change something or be a force for good. But let’s be honest here, the politician is one of the worst sort of scum. What kind of person would want a job whose sole purpose is to tell other people how to live their lives?
In my previous article concerning Positive Liberty, I mentioned that one of the main argument for Positive Liberty is that in a democracy, the government is us. “Boatmoney” mentioned in the comments that while this was technically true, it wasn’t true in fact. But that article was for the purpose of presenting the argument fairly, not to argue against it. I will do so now.
Boatmoney, you are right. While we choose the government we live in, and the politician to represent us, there is a fundamental difference between us and the government. The main difference is in the core character of those who want to rule over us. Any person with a desire to rule over others is already picking the lock on the house of evil. Anyone who wants to spend his or her day sitting in a building telling others how to live has a fundamental character flaw. I’m not saying that ALL politicians are evil, but I will say that politicians suffer from inflated egos. And that’s the sort of thing that turns evil men on and that’s why evil men are attracted to the job.
All of the world’s problems (every single one without exception) are the fault of evil men in positions of power. All of the world’s problems are caused by evil men who will exploit you and others to increase their own power and wealth.
Positive Liberty understands this of course. To not understand this is the height of ignorance. The solution (for proponents of Positive Liberty) is for the citizens of the nation to be ever vigilant against corruption. We must always watch them, we must always scrutinize them, we must have political watch groups and pundits and media coverage and lobbyists and civil rights groups and manifestos and literature and blogs and college courses and watchdogs and magazines and editorials that constantly, without a moments lapse, to ever and forever make sure the VAST amounts of POWER and WEALTH we give to these self absorbed ego maniacs is not abused.
And God help us if those few truly evil SOBs get their hands on that VAST amount of POWER and WEALTH when no one is watching.
Proponents of negative liberty have a totally different solution altogether.
I’ve always felt that political service should be an obligation and a sacrifice, not a reward and certainly not a career. ‘Politician’ should be neither a class nor an occupation, but a term of service that a successful person undertakes—at some cost to themselves—to allow their talents to serve the public good.
It might sound naive, but I think that a term of elected office should pay minimum wage, should have no better health care than any other citizen receives, and should otherwise have no special perks or compensation.
Of course I have all kinds of crazy ideas, like restoring full voting rights to criminals after they serve their prison sentences and decriminalizing all nonviolent drug offenses (where all parties are over the age of consent).
Boatmoney: Yes, there are and he is a good example.
Paul: Yes. In the old US, being a member of Congress wasn’t a full time career. I don’t know about minimum wage but you’re right, it shouldn’t be a life long career. For one thing, most of those jerk-offs now don’t even know what the real world is like.
Your final ideas are not crazy and you and I may be on the same page.
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Our Trip to America Part 1
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Bottom Biting Bug
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Civic Rambling: On Negative Liberty
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Civic Rambling: On Liberty Part 2
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I was reading today about James Madison’s ideas on creating the US government and how he fought to get his ideas across. He is a fine example of the type of politician we could use more of, albeit an extreme example. There are a few good ones, I reckon.