Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Good vs. Evil; and the Inability to Recognize Either
“...Evil Empire...” “...Axis of Evil...”
When phrases such as these by former President Ronald Reagan and current president George Bush were publicly stated, the response from certain quarters was predictable. “How could they say such things, particularly in view of our own record of genocide and imperial aggression?”
Just as some of us can tell the difference between a scorpion and a grass-hopper, so also can we discern the very real differences between open democratic society and evil tyrannies. This should be a simple common sense observation, but apparently it’s not. Ironically, it is often our “most educated” (academics, intellectuals, journalists, and “artists”) who are typically unable to note the extreme and observable distinctions between a middle-class pop culture and a mega-state tyranny (i.e. Cuba, or the Former Soviet Union).
Even the most die-hard atheist in the West can not hear the word “evil” without understanding its meaning as a term soaked in millennia of theistic guidelines for living. Evil to a Westerner, does not simply mean “really bad.” Leftists would no doubt prefer that no such word existed as they can only see it’s limited application to the forces that challenge their own self-perception as vanguards of the good. They’ll permit the word’s use in describing the millions killed by Hitler (good call!) or thousands killed by a banana republic military dictator, but when more kindred spirits (e.g. communists) have killed millions, then evil becomes a relative term. It’s difficult for the left to use the “E” word in references to a socialist dictator. To some, describing dictatorships as evil is going a bit too far, particularly if assumptions regarding noble motives are naïve enough (and if one considers an "egalitarian" society of imposed conformity "noble"). Even a Nazi style socialist -- the Baath party of Iraq was socialist -- Saddam Hussein, has been cut considerable slack by the left when compared to their ultimate demon, the current President from Texas.
Of course, one can argue that there are degrees of good and evil. There are few if any individuals or nations that could be called, completely, one or the other. America and individual citizens have certainly done evil things. On the flip side, Hitler liked dogs and Ho Chi Minh did photo-ops with playing children.
When one criticizes the horrors of extreme evil as a method of governance, one can be sure the denizens of the left will want to focus instead (in a sort of polemic retaliation) on the weaknesses or failings of free society and the evil some individuals or institutions may commit within such a political and economic framework. To them an imposed famine on millions is morally the equivalent of a 5% unemployment rate or state subsidy cutbacks. The state directed coercion of millions and torture of philosophical opposition is the equivalent, to them, of renegade service personnel humiliating terrorist prisoners. To the left, good and evil are on a sliding scale that always slides in favor of good in more collectivist systems or ideals. What are a few million deaths when you’re opposing the true evils of a free market and "inequality?"
Back to reality: The Soviet Union was an evil empire – it was an Empire and it was evil. Most on the left have difficulty acknowledging this, particularly in view of their absurd perception of America as the true evil “empire” of the world. To confront them on this issue is futile, which is why we are fortunate that those with common sense outnumber demagogues of political idealism.
At the risk of sounding like a “McCarthyite” I’m going to state emphatically that communism itself is evil. Fascism – which is nothing but another sect of socialist thought (socialism plus nationalism, overt militarism, and a little private property to generate cash) – is clearly evil. Freedom is not evil, whether applied to the exchange of goods and services (capitalism) or having free choices in reading material. Evil people acting within free society do not magically make freedom itself evil.
Recognizing that there are forces for good or evil in the world is not a difficult or particularly complex judgment call, and recognizing which is which is not particularly hard either. Odd that many with degrees in literature, linguistics, or political science (for example) are troubled by such clear notions. Odder still that, in those few cases where they will make a distinction, a society of diverse and adaptable individuals is seen in a more negative light, while collectivist monoliths are often viewed with great sympathy if not adoration.
Some of us can look at grass-hoppers and scorpions or democracy and dictatorships and know which one is poisonous …or evil. Others seem lost in mind-games, in honor of "planned" society...and unplanned thought.
