Monsters?
Excellent points are made by Jonah Goldberg on National Review Online who states (emphasis mine)
Liberals think people are inherently good, and their "environment" or "life experiences" make them less than good. I believe liberals "feel" this way to make themselves feel good. There aren't any "bad" people, only "bad" guns, etc.
Conservatives know that people are inherently evil, or neutral. Given a chance they will be evil. There are also people, the most dangerous ones, who are amoral, being neither good or evil. These people can be monsters. They see no wrong, therefore nothing restrains their deeds.
While people are inherently evil or neutral, they are driven by two things -- fear and greed. I believe you can wrap up any human action and analyze it down to these two motivations. We are either running towards something we perceive to be good and beneficial, or away from something we perceive to be dangerous and harmful.
Our actions are restrained by laws, our environment, and other people. (religion plays a part in some cases.)
We should make laws to restrain the evil and unbridled greed. (we really don't have to know a criminal's motivation, we just have to put them away)
Our environment restrains us from actions. We have to restrain ourselves at work, in traffic, in a restaurant, in a grocery, even at home. If we don't restrain our actions, society will, by ostracizing us or by placing us in jail.
Other people restrain us since we are greedy for sex, approval, and being part of a group, and fear rejection.
Pretty damn simple. Fear and Greed.
"For decades, a therapeutic culture of 'understanding' was on the rise. Except for acts of racism and so-called homophobia, there was a mad rush to 'understand' evil people. Were they victims of a racist culture? Were they abused themselves? Were they expressing their natural frustration with the patriarchal capitalist system? Blah, blah, blah.Since I know everyone out there in the blogosphere has been waiting for my thoughts on good and evil and Liberals and Conservatives, here they are:
The tragedy of the imagination was that we couldn't appreciate that evil is real and it exists. In a society where everyone is a victim and it's not right to 'judge' others, there's just not much room left for real monsters, while society itself becomes monstrous. Hannibal Lecter became a charming rogue, the Grinch who Stole Christmas became the victim of the judgmental Whovilleans in the Jim Carrey movie ..."
Liberals think people are inherently good, and their "environment" or "life experiences" make them less than good. I believe liberals "feel" this way to make themselves feel good. There aren't any "bad" people, only "bad" guns, etc.
Conservatives know that people are inherently evil, or neutral. Given a chance they will be evil. There are also people, the most dangerous ones, who are amoral, being neither good or evil. These people can be monsters. They see no wrong, therefore nothing restrains their deeds.
While people are inherently evil or neutral, they are driven by two things -- fear and greed. I believe you can wrap up any human action and analyze it down to these two motivations. We are either running towards something we perceive to be good and beneficial, or away from something we perceive to be dangerous and harmful.
Our actions are restrained by laws, our environment, and other people. (religion plays a part in some cases.)
We should make laws to restrain the evil and unbridled greed. (we really don't have to know a criminal's motivation, we just have to put them away)
Our environment restrains us from actions. We have to restrain ourselves at work, in traffic, in a restaurant, in a grocery, even at home. If we don't restrain our actions, society will, by ostracizing us or by placing us in jail.
Other people restrain us since we are greedy for sex, approval, and being part of a group, and fear rejection.
Pretty damn simple. Fear and Greed.
posted by Mongo at 5:03:00 AM
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