Unironically this is how most of us think about the world. I believe as humans we’re innately selfish and want to feel like we’re usually good or at least justified. Everyone is the protagonist of their own life and sometimes the antagonist of other people’s lives, so it’s worth considering how you could do better to others rather than continuing to justify yourself.
The nature of evil is debatable when someone uses the word against ideological opponents. There are things which are unequivocally evil, but most people are ill-equipped to differentiate between evil and what they don’t like due to their cognitive biases, political biases, and lack of knowledge or experience. For people in functioning democracies, this means waiting and observing, so you can fund activities and vote accordingly. I don’t like the colloquial use of the word “evil”, in which one type of political extremist uses it against another, as in that case they’re both wrong, but for different reasons.
That could be the motto of every criminal who joined any form of organized crime syndicate.
Why society sanctioned one or the other? Seems more and more blurry.
Corollary: My income from living a well meaning life is not sufficient to have children. Having children while working for a non-profit in 2025 means living in precarity. While my individual choices have a negligible impact on the direction of the world or society at large, my low income would actively stunt my children and any hope that they might have the resources, support, influence, or opportunity to bring about systemic change.
Also, I refuse to consider any type of violence in my organizing even though that is precisely the escalation in tactics and extremism that the "evil" parts of the world have moved to.
I am prey. Please eat me.
If you do not fight the system the way I want I will pout and die faster in response. Because suicide is the ultimate form of control and emotional manipulation and that's all I really care about.
Unironically this is how most of us think about the world. I believe as humans we’re innately selfish and want to feel like we’re usually good or at least justified. Everyone is the protagonist of their own life and sometimes the antagonist of other people’s lives, so it’s worth considering how you could do better to others rather than continuing to justify yourself.
The nature of evil is debatable when someone uses the word against ideological opponents. There are things which are unequivocally evil, but most people are ill-equipped to differentiate between evil and what they don’t like due to their cognitive biases, political biases, and lack of knowledge or experience. For people in functioning democracies, this means waiting and observing, so you can fund activities and vote accordingly. I don’t like the colloquial use of the word “evil”, in which one type of political extremist uses it against another, as in that case they’re both wrong, but for different reasons.
That could be the motto of every criminal who joined any form of organized crime syndicate. Why society sanctioned one or the other? Seems more and more blurry.
(yes, exaggerating -- to provoke thought)
Corollary: My income from living a well meaning life is not sufficient to have children. Having children while working for a non-profit in 2025 means living in precarity. While my individual choices have a negligible impact on the direction of the world or society at large, my low income would actively stunt my children and any hope that they might have the resources, support, influence, or opportunity to bring about systemic change.
Also, I refuse to consider any type of violence in my organizing even though that is precisely the escalation in tactics and extremism that the "evil" parts of the world have moved to.
I am prey. Please eat me.
If you do not fight the system the way I want I will pout and die faster in response. Because suicide is the ultimate form of control and emotional manipulation and that's all I really care about.
Love this article. It basically represents most of my collagues when I worked at a faang.