The Problem of Evil

Karen Albert

8/30/09

Human biology makes us social creatures, social life requires morality and altruistic behavior, and yet we are perennially beset by the problem of evil. Humans are not well adapted to surviving as isolated individuals. Biologically, we are social creatures, that is, our brains are normally hard-wired for interdependence. Our brains and sensory apparatus give predispose us to empathize and form emotional bonds with one another, to pay attention to each others needs, and to respond. !or e"ample, human young are defenseless, and depend upon their mothers for elaborate long-term care. #lone and without the advantages of technology, human adults would still be relatively defenseless compared to other predators in nature, and it is only through cooperation that we prevail against them. #s social creatures we cooperate$ that is, individuals are predisposed to give up some immediate selfish advantages for the benefit of our group. %e are ready to act on behalf of others because we e"pect to share the benefits of belonging to a strong group. &his is known as 'eciprocal altruism. (ooperation requires trust and reciprocity--we must risk that the advantages we give up will be compensated by others) sacrifices on our behalf. %hen members of a group cooperate consistently and creatively, they have a great collective advantage over other less cooperative groups. Our biological nature imbues us with moral instincts and with amoral impulses, and both have survival value. *urvival in nature requires all creatures to pursue what is good for them and to do whatever it takes to overcome danger, resistance and opposition. *elfish impulses +to seize food and other goods, to breed, to dominate, favor the survival of the strong individual. 'apport, moral instincts, and the ability to cooperate and act collectively favor the survival of the group.

Empathy as one pillar of morality

-sychological research in recent years demonstrates that the human capacity for moral behavior is indeed based on inborn faculties and instinct$ we unconsciously monitor cues that indicate the internal states of people around us, those cues in their behavior .resonate/ in our own neural systems, causing us to feel their feelings, vicariously. 0eurological studies show that the same part of the brain that is activated when we feel pain, for e"ample, is also activated when we see another person in pain. &hus our normal response1to be helpful and to alleviate suffering1actually preserves our own sense of well-being and spares us from vicarious suffering. &his vicarious e"perience of others) feelings is usually referred to as empathy, and it is the basis for moral behavior. &he capacity for empathy is based in a relatively primitive part of the brain that we share with all mammals$ the limbic system. However, infants reared without an emotional bond to a caretaker may fail to develop the ability to empathize, and may reach adulthood without developing normal moral instincts. 2n addition to our basic moral instincts, we learn our society)s special and elaborate moral code that specifies what particular behaviors are required, permitted and forbidden. 3oral codes encourage cooperation and punish non-cooperation, and require individuals to restrain and channel their selfish impulses into socially acceptable forms. %hen we satisfy our selfish impulses within the guidelines imposed by our society)s moral code, we are viewed as good people4 when our selfish behavior violates the moral code, endangers the group, or hurts another individual, it is viewed as wrong, perhaps even evil. 2t is morality that keeps society healthy, but, parado"ically, it is the habit of cooperation that makes us vulnerable to betrayal. 5amage to the frontal corte" of the brain can render a person unable to understand or follow a moral code. 6ack of emotional bonding in infancy can prevent an individual from developing morality or conscience. (ognitive deficits, then, account for some incidence of

criminal and anti-social behavior that we call .evil./ 7enetic traits have been observed that make some males more aggressive and more likely than others to use e"cessive force and violence.

Acculturation and Morality

3ost evil-doers, however, do not suffer from genetic or brain defects. &he morality of normal, healthy people is all too often distorted by an environment in which abusive and a-moral behavior is the norm. 2n addition, some emergencies may override the moral instincts, and some ordinarily moral people consider that moral precepts do not apply to some detested individuals, groups, and situations. #cculturation and conceptualization play a great role in the operation of empathy. 3ilitary trainers find it necessary and effective to sub8ect recruits to vigorous indoctrination aimed to counteract their normal tendency to empathize. *uch training is required in order to condition soldiers to kill the enemy on sight without hesitation. %e are also able to choose not to empathize. -eople commonly empathize with people they recognize as .one of us,/ and commonly refuse to empathize with people they classify as not human, or .not one of us./ 9mpathy is normally suspended, also, in the act of punishing a wrong-doer. -eople generally perceive that an individual who has violated the moral code has endangered the community and should be punished. %atching another suffer actually elicits activity in the pleasure centers of the brains of observers who believe they are watching the punishment of a wrong-doer.

eciprocity as the second pillar of morality

'eciprocity is the psychological principle that demands a favor be returned by a favor, a blow by a blow. &he demand for reciprocity, along with empathy, forms the underpinnings of instinctive morality. %hile empathy for our neighbors is the active and positive motivation for moral behavior, dread of punishment is necessary to discourage pursuit of the selfish advantages to be gained through immoral behavior. -unishment for wrong-doing is an essential component of a moral regime, and retribution is pursued for the sake of reciprocity. 2n comple" and affluent societies in which people en8oy a great degree of liberty, the 8ustice system has many options for fitting punishments to crimes$ :ail time, fines, hard labor, and public humiliation may be effective punishments and deterrents. But when people commit crimes who have nothing to lose1neither property, dignity nor freedom1punishment becomes problematic. !or punishment to be worse than the daily e"perience of a field slave or a medieval serf, it had to be brutal, savage, and corporal$ whipping, mutilation, torture. *uch people might actually welcome a quick death by hanging.

!deolo"y and Evil

One problem that arises with the administration of punishments to wrong-doers is that punishment itself can very easily become wrong-doing. &he tendency for evil acts to be committed in the name of punishing evil-doers is amplified when people subscribe to religious beliefs or political ideologies that that teach them that any other belief is not only defective, but wrong, evil, and dangerous. 0either paganism nor the religions of the !ar 9ast, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, require their followers to persecute infidels, but Hebrew, (hristian and 3uslims leaders have at various times required the faithful to commit acts of genocide aggravated by atrocity. -olitical ideology has a track record that is equally bad. &he !rench 'evolution and the 5irty %ar in #rgentina are 8ust a two occasions in which political passions fueled orgies of death and torture on a monstrous scale. 2n all times and places, leaders of tribes, religions, nations and mobs have persuaded their followers that some other groups are their enemies, are wrongdoers who threaten the continued e"istence of everything good and godly1and thus deserve punishment. -eople have often been

punished as wrong-doers when their only offense was being somehow .not like us./ 2f individuals or categories of people are labeled as enemies, infidels, witches, .trash,/ barbarians, monsters, sub-human or inhuman, empathy will be denied to them. &he prohibition against causing harm to them will be suspended, and the infliction of ma"imum harm upon them may be celebrated as an act of virtue. 9mpathy is denied, and the psychology of punishment runs wild. 6ong conflicts, in which cycles of atrocities and revenge have raised hostilities to a murderous passion, have often spawned collective acts of monstrous savagery.

#hen the psychopath sei$es the advanta"e

2n general, morality promotes collective survival, but there are activities and circumstances in which an active conscience is a disadvantage. !ighting and trading stocks are two e"amples. 2n warfare, business and ruling, lack of conscience frees a leader to pursue self-interest without a flicker of inhibition. 2t allows one to act quickly, decisively, and ruthlessly. -ublic affairs, especially in large and comple" societies, are full of moral dilemmas and parado"es that can reduce a conscientious moralist to a dithering standstill. Human relations are bewilderingly multi-dimensional, and 8ustice can only be appro"imate, hardly ever perfect. 2n some social crises, there is no possible course of action that will not have some unfortunate side effects. #lthough a leader may regret the unavoidable negative consequences, he will have to overcome his scruples in order to accomplish a greater good. # psychopath, on the other hand, has no scruples or regrets to overcome$ he can focus his egotism like a laser, calculate like a machine, and act without hesitation. 6ack of scruples is not the psychopath)s only advantage in conflicts$ 5irect confrontation with ruthless violence usually reduces a normal person to a state of terror-induced paralysis. &he ability to strike terror is a very impressive weapon, like a natural stun-gun. Because such terror is so debilitating, and because it results partly from perceptions registered beneath the level of conscious awareness, the psychopath is often credited with supernatural power. 6eaders that display confidence, decisiveness and ability to dominate are perceived as .winners./ &hose who oppose them on moral or rational grounds are typically derided and discredited as effete wimps. !ollowers are all too often willfully blind to their leaders) moral shortcomings4 they may even re8oice in them, thinking they will work to their own advantage. 2t is not only individuals who fail to e"ercise morality, but whole societies sink into moral degeneration. 2n such societies, moral behavior no longer has survival value. &he suffering imposed by social degeneration is not merely lack of necessities, but systematic betrayal, abuse and e"ploitation$ violence, intimidation, cheating, robbery, fraud, embezzlement, e"ploitation, parasitism. 2n a morally depraved milieu such as 0azi 7ermany +dare we mention the corporate mafia of the ;*#<, an individual cannot seek promotion and recognition without actively contributing to evil. &he desire for public honor is not a vice in itself4 but in a regime dominated by vicious thugs, a brilliant career will almost inevitably become a tool of evil. &he (hinese classics were written in 8ust such circumstances, and they counseled the .superior man,/ the moral individual, to withdraw from public life and take refuge in obscurity.

%oncentration of Po&er
&he main economic thrust of the (ivilized world has always been centralization of power$ to entice or force self-sufficient individuals into hierarchical organizations of specialized subordinates4 from getting food and shelter to producing and marketing saleable commodities. :effersonian democracy gave refuge, for a generation or two, to the self-sufficient householder

who was neither a lord nor a peasant. *ee what a community of people can do in a generation or two, who en8oy the advantages of civilization without most of its abominations= 2 envisioned the (radle of (ivilization$ how the first organized agriculturists became irresistible targets of raids, conquest, and e"ploitation4 how the state-sponsored military protection racket spread agricultural deforestation, war and slavery across the face of the earth 8ust as ine"orably as the global capitalists now spread (oca(ola, television, and corporate>industrial proletariats. 'eligion, the #rts ? opiates of the people, propaganda tools of the Order. &he 'e" 3undi has always claimed for itself what is good and lovely, and twisted those things to its ine"orable ends. 2 see that (ivilization has always gutted its cities and left them, after their brief seasons of glory, burnt-out sinkholes for millennia afterward +witness 9gypt, -alestine, (entral #sia, 7reece, (hina and 2ndia,. 2 contemplated how (lassical (ivilization over-e"tended itself and then collapsed when its e"hausted cultural morale>vitality could not uphold a military bulwark against the Barbarians. 2 think 2 see where the ;*# is headed. &he %estern barbarians re8ected the dead civic culture of 'ome, but they took to the religion, and took over what was left of the economic order. &hey held them against the Huns and the @ikings, and called their kings Aaisers and &sars$ (aesars. (ivilized economy e"tended itself farther beyond agriculture than the (aesars had ever known, until not even absolutist monarchies could manage it. &he (apitalist (orporations emerged in full regalia, and 5emocracy was a convenient way of casting political power into forms openly agreeable to domination by oligarchies of corporations and financiers. &he 0orth #merican 5emocracy fell in line soon enough$ how could it resist .development/ by the (anal companies, the 'ailroad companies, the oil companies<

'ierarchy Erodes %ommunity( Empathy and Morality

2n a crowded world where humans contend over every scrap of land and every morsel of food, survival depends upon prevailing over enemies1that is, winning wars. 2n order to survive against hostile outsiders, a social group must submit to leaders4 military organization becomes a hierarchy, and e"tends to many other realms of social life. *ocial hierarchy works against the tendency to empathize, and against morality$ %hat starts as an arrangement for mutual benefit inevitably degenerates into e"ploitation. -eople at the top of the chain of command take a disproportionate share of the benefits of the social order4 those on lower levels are forced to sacrifice self-determination, balance, and wholeness +not to mention health and life itself, for the sake of .their betters/. -eople in different levels and branches of the hierarchy may begin to think of each other as .them/ rather than .us4/ divergent interests and goals erode the sense of having shared interests that are the basis of community and moral inclusiveness4 the lively sympathy between members of a community is replaced by mechanical role-playing and .social climbing./ &he unequal distribution of rewards in a hierarchy is inherently at odds with our e"pectations of reciprocity, and breeds envy and resentment. -eople on the bottom of the hierarchy 8udge that society treats them un8ustly, and are motivated to punish society$ .Bou who rule *ociety and reap the benefits clearly do not care about my welfare. Bou trap me in a life of poverty, drudgery and boredom. Bou allow me no access to reward or dignity1therefore 2 will cease caring about your approval1but 2 will show you what 2 can do= 2 will gain your attention and 2 will make you pay. Bou will be sorry=/ 2n practice, :ustice is a form of reciprocity, and :ustice can be maintained only among equals, that is, between people equal in their ability to reciprocate favors as well as offences. 2f one party is so weak that its goodwill counts for little, and so weak that it cannot punish the offences of the stronger, there cannot be a relationship of reciprocity between the two, and consequently, no 8ustice. &he stronger calculates that the weaker has nothing to contribute willingly, that he cannot get anything of value from the weaker e"cept by brute force. 9ach party

stops thinking of the other as Cus,C and assumes the license to treat the other as inferior, alien, inhuman, and unworthy of moral consideration. &he prison1or the galleys, the concentration camp, or the refugee camp1is an essential pillar of the modern hierarchical state$ 2t is the eloquent monument to coercive power, the necessary ad8unct to the doctrine that .2f you are not with us, you are against us. 2ts e"istence proclaims, .2f you do not please us, you will be sub8ect to a fate worse than death./ -eople in upper levels of a hierarchy can inflict suffering on people below without ever having to see it, using their resources of reward and threat to manipulate their subordinates into doing the dirty work. &hus those who direct confiscations, massacres, torture, slave labor, and the like can avoid personal association with the crimes, and avoid the vicarious suffering that they might e"perience if they had to witness it. &hose who carry out the orders are motivated to comply out of fear that they will be persecuted and made victims themselves, if they do not. #hat ma)es *ociety liable to moral brea)do&n+ 6arge social scale :ustice vs hierarchy 9scalation of social inequity$ .the rich get richer . . ./ #buse of power +they do what they can get away with, &endency of the poor to live on the very edge of destitution 5isregard for morality is a winning strategy in all-out conflicts +us vs them, immorality of an e"ternal war is carried into domestic affairs social trust breaks down, and all individuals regard one another as possible enemies *ocial conditions that favor moral behavior small scale, all know one another by sight homogeneity, shared values, culture, and morality all members share similar status, wealth, power and privileges long term relationships and repeated interactions are the norm stablility, outside influences sub8ected to CquarantineC e"plicit moral e"pectations, mutual monitoring of behavior strict and consistent penalties for violations awareness of human propensities to act selfishly suppression of competitiveness *ocial conditions that breed immoral behavior, large social scale, anonymity heterogeneity, many ethnicities, cultures and moralities in practice promulgation of ideologies that require vigorous persecution of the opposition wide disparities in wealth and power4 privileged and e"ploited sub-groups !ewer long-term relationships4 many opportunities for Chit-and runC interactions specialization of offices and skills change, instability, openness to outside influences that disrupt local community morality lack of e"plicitness or clarity in moral e"pectations lack of mutual oversight and policing la" and>or inconsistent penalties for defection gullibility +simple ine"perience or inculcated naivetD, culture of competitiveness specialization of roles, government secrecy that makes it difficult to monitor compliance or hold officials to account for their behavior

Absolute Po&er %orrupts Absolutely

Behavioral e"periments conducted in the EFGH)s show us that psychologically normal and well-ad8usted college students placed in positions of unchecked power quickly started behaving like sadistic tyrants. 2n an e"periment designed to find out about the impact of power on its holders, a professor of psychology created his own .evil/ environment, a mock prison, in which college students were assigned their roles as guards and prisoners. #fter being given only a few brief guidelines the .guards/ were given absolute power over their .prisoners./ #s prisoners became increasingly resistant to guards, the guards devised novel ways of humiliating and dehumanizing them, and went on to physical mistreatment of the prisoners. *ome of the guards positively en8oyed imposing such abuse, while other guards who did not actively participate stood by quietly and never challenged the abusive guards. #t this point the professor called off the e"periment ahead of schedule, in order to keep the abuse from escalating out of all control. &he unmistakable conclusion is that absolute power does indeed corrupt absolutely. %e are led to conclude that the atrocities committed by the infamous villains of history cannot be sufficiently e"plained by blaming pernicious ideologies or psychological illness. 2t would seem that .monstrosity/ or .psychological imbalance/ is less to blame than the lack of restraints upon the e"ercise of power.

#hy do people do evil+

Primary motives, 2n self-defense1from fear &o protect life and property &o punish .wrong-doers,/ as punishment or revenge &o punish the world for the unhappiness of their own lives &o eliminate .misfits/ from the community &o gain a position of power #s an way to display and en8oy power and status &o intimidate and eliminate would-be challengers &o quell civil disorder !or a .good cause/1.to make the world safe for democracy,/ for e"ample &o gain the territory, possessions, and>or labor of the victims1i.e., for profit Because it gives pleasure Out of boredom, for entertainment !nstrumental factors that ma)e it more li)ely( or easier( to do evil, war or some other e"tremity mob hysteria orders from superiors (ommunity custom, where not to do it would attract the enmity of the community -osition of unchecked power over victim 6abor is so unpleasant that people won)t do it unless coerced 5istance$ the atrocity may be directed from a distance, without having to see it or get dirty one)s own hands1out of sight, out of mind lack of anything to stop or punish the evil acts weapons and other means of doing evil are at hand

%haracteristics of the victims @ulnerable e"pendable 5ifferent in nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, lifestyle #n enemy in war not perceived as not worthy of moral consideration -erceived as disgusting refuses to submit or obey under less harsh treatment already deprived of everything +as with prisoners or slaves,, and the only way to punish them further is to impose torture %haracteristics of the perpetrators paranoid overcome by anger commitment to religion or ideology that commands them to annihilate its enemies 2ndifferent to the sufferings of others +lack of capacity for empathy,, habituated to cruelty *ense of grievance, self-pity driven by lust, a compulsion, or a mental illness lacking conscience, moral compass, or capacity for social bonding their appetites have been 8aded and require the stimulant of .the taboo/ in order to feel pleasure in a position of unchecked power, not sub8ect to oversight or criticism *ocial conditions Breakdown of social order due to war or natural disaster %eakening of institutions that once supported moral behavior 9conomic duress -romulgation of religions or ideologies that demand annihilation of the opposition ;nassimilated alien populations within the society 3ass hysteria History of pathological leadership has deflected moral compass of the populace *ocial scale has gotten big and depersonalized (ulture of e"treme competitiveness$ # cut-throat, dog-eat-dog milieu$ imperial 'ome, for e"ample 9"treme concentrations and inequities of wealth and power that raise the stakes of social competition and motivate e"treme behavior$ when some have everything to win and others have nothing to lose. Over-crowding and>or over-population 6ack of checks on people in positions of power

%hat kind of 7od would create such a world<

2n8ustice, atrocity and suffering would seem to be inevitable. %hy do we continue to submit ourselves to it, generation after generation< %hy don)t we 8ust stop< %hat is the purpose of so much suffering< %hat)s going on here, anyway< 2s it punishment, or spiritual boot camp, or spiritual .placement-testing</ &he :udeo-(hristian tradition contends that 7od is both all-powerful and benevolent. 2f so, how is it that 7od allows such a lot of suffering and evil to go on in His creation< 2f He loves us and wants only good for us, why did He put the lying snake and the poison apple into His creation< 2f lust, pride, greed and self-will are sinful, why did He make us so susceptible to these and other sins, which He blames for bringing our suffering upon us< &he e"istence of evil is either a divine mistake, or it is divinely intended. 2f it is a mistake, it must be a flaw in divinity, or a flaw in divine e"ecution. 2f evil is intended by divinity, it is usually e"plained as a means of .testing/ the virtue of individuals, or as a spiritual .school of hard knocks./ 3aybe it)s not 7od)s fault that *ociety is Hell4 but Hell is inevitable enough that it might as well be 7od)s fault. Theolo"ical positions on Evil, 3onotheistic rationales 9vil and suffering is a consequence of human disobedience to 7od 9vil results when humans aspire to know and to do what should be left to 7od. 7od has given free will to humans as part of our resemblance to Himself, and that involves the freedom to choose to do evil +but animals suffer, too1and they aren)t covered by these arguments, 9vil and suffering serves 7od)s benevolent purposes +:ust because we don)t perceive this doesn)t mean it isn)t so, and He is not obliged to e"plain it to us, &he benevolent 7od is not omnipotent, but opposed by a malevolent counterpart, *atan 7od is at least partly evil +as illustrated by his wrathful violence in the Old &estament, 7od is fallible, and struggles along with us to overcome the stupidities of the world He created 7od is absent17od has distanced Himself from our affairs 7od is dead Hindu > Buddhist rationales$ Karma$ the notion that the conditions and e"periences of our present lives are the consequences of our behavior in past lives. Our virtuous and evil actions in past lives have favorable and unfavorable consequences, respectively, in our present lives. &hose who do evil will suffer evil in future incarnations. (ause and effect operates between incarnations, as well as within them. +-resumably, the divine code of morals is the same as the human code of morals., &hose who live well will advance toward escaping the cycle of birth, suffering and death. -esires for worldly things are rooted in -elusion4 satisfaction of the desires of the soul are only to be attained by focusing away from the %orld onto 7od4 if one can die in the

calm renunciation of the %orld, the soul will be released from the cycle of *amsara into a more direct spiritual communion with 7od. 2f you credit this possibility, conscious despair could be seen as a divine kick in the pants toward liberation of the soul. 2t seems to me that, in the conte"t of human incarnation, the desire for simple material things +tasty food, sensory pleasure, and en8oyment of other physiological functions, ?in the consciousness that these are gifts of 7od ? are healthy and founded in the acceptance of 7od)s will that put us here for the moment. !riendship likewise. *uch things are attainable, and can inoculate against 9nvy, 3alice, (ovetousness. *uch socially transmitted obsessions1desire for possessions, dominion, invulnerability, total control, admiration, prestige, success, immortality, etc.1are insatiable and ultimately unattainable. 2f material reality is only .maya,/ if it is delusion to perceive stone and flesh as solid and real, why doesn)t it go away when we decide it is an empty side-show< Based on my own e"perience of this .illusion,/ 2 would contend that illusions such as the solidity of matter and the serial nature of temporal events are divinely imposed and properly accepted as a contingency of incarnate life. &he socially induced delusions - those that distract, distort and block our perception of phenomena, 7od, and ourselves - are the dangerous maya. #nd religion fosters some of the worst= E"otism causes suffering. 6ike all scriptures, the @edas and the Buddhist sutras denounce egotism and e"hort us to cultivate compassion for all. &his is all very well -compassion is a priceless thing and intransigent ego is indeed a curse to oneself and one)s fellows. #t the same time, 2 could wish that organized religions gave their adherents a little more ideological equipment for resisting abuse of their good faith. 2f ego is bad for the faithful, must we live in fear of offending the tender unregenerate ego of the Aing or even of &H9 6O'5< -eace, love and harmony are lovely ideals, but when harmony depends on someone else having their ego worshipped, must we meekly play along< 2f mortification of my own ego is the road to my salvation, is it not a sin to cultivate someone else)s ego< 2t may be a mistake to think 2 am my body or my ego4 but, as long as we are in this world, 2 am stuck with both, and have a legitimate interest in keeping them in good order. %e don)t have to eat all the physical, emotional, and mental 8unk-food that *ociety pushes at us4 but we have to feed and e"ercise both body and ego in order to be spiritually healthy as human beings. &he acceptance that this %orld is a vale of tears and the belief that the reward of a life well-lived is to be found only in the Hereafter are not( however( intrinsic to human nature$ .primitive/ cultures do not share it. Hunter>gatherers and the ancient 7reeks all believed that the dead envied the living, and that the world of the dead was dreary and sad. Only when the pyramid of (ivilization starts to crush the life out of its human base do people begin to believe 7od intends life to be more onerous than death. &he doctrine that the sufferings in this life are .tests/ from 7od, or the result of Ikarma of past lives) serves to keep the little people .in their place,/ along with I&he 5ivine 'ight of Aings) and other well-worn propaganda tools. Other theistic rationales &here are a plurality of gods who contend among themselves, and their lack of harmony is the cause of evil in the world. +One may dispense with the notion of .gods/ and keep the idea that the various forms of the 7ood1various forms of life, and various nations of

the world1conflict with one another. #t least in contingent matters, what benefits one often damages another., Our human perception and mentality is limited, and we cannot e"pect to comprehend this matter from 7od)s point of view.

0on-theistic considerations$ 6iving a good life requires achieving many different forms of the 7ood, and this makes demands upon us that conflict with one another. !or e"ample, the demands of a life of public service may make it difficult to spend enough time with family. &he attempt to reconcile various forms of the 7ood may lead a person into evil, as when a man resorts to a life of crime in order to support his family. &he world and its resources are finite, while our desires are infinite. &he population living off a given set of resources will always be bigger than the population that can live off it comfortably. Only deprivation curbs the growth of population. 5eath and suffering are inherent in material, mortal and temporal e"istence +as opposed to e"istence as an idea or as a disembodied spirit,$ 6ife feeds upon life$ herbivores eat plants, predators eat prey, parasites infest and torment their hosts1that is the way of all flesh. -ain serves us as a deterrent to dangerous behavior, and death terminates life when the physical vehicle has broken down1these are necessary and beneficial functions in 0ature. +2t is *O(29&B that inflicts and e"ploits pain and death for other purposes,. 0atural selection and survival of the fittest may involve suffering, while operating to perfect the adaptation of living things to their environments. &he plurality of living beings is an unavoidable cause of evil$ 5eath is an evil for the prey that dies, but it is good for the predator that must eat--5eath is necessary to preserve life. %hat serves to benefit me may, at the same time, work against you. &he failure of one provides an opportunity for the success of another. 9vil +as opposed to suffering, is a creation of the intellect$ the moment one begins mentally to divide up the whole fabric of reality and prefer the .good/ parts, .9vil/ automatically springs into e"istence as the symmetrical counterpart of 7ood.

Millenarianism and the .inal /ud"ment

6ife in civilized society is characterized by such persistent and glaring in8ustice that the only way many people can accept it is to believe that 8ustice is restored in an afterlife$ in Heaven or Hell, and>or by a global #pocalypse. Our moral sense tells us that the way of the world is vastly un8ust, and that the restoration of 8ustice we long for would involve turning the world upside down, and the end of life as we know it. 0icholas (ampion)s The Great Year, a history of historiography and millenarianism, presents the succession of religious, astrological, political and .scientific/ theories that have kept huge populations awaiting the !uture #pocalypse or the 0ew #ge, from the dawn of civilization right up to the present moment. 9"pectation of the apocalypse has, incidentally, been instrumental in keeping us mired in gross e"ploitation since the times of 7ilgamesh. 2t is enough to make me want to drop out of the human race. #gainst all reason, in our heart of hearts, we long for the 5ay of 5estruction. %e long to witness a gigantic act of 7od that will trump all the negative consequences of our individual and collective deeds. %e long for this to happen because the mess we have made of our individual and collective lives 8ust seems to get worse with every passing day, and because getting old and dying is so unattractive. &he prospect of enduring the compounding problems of this mess1

societal evils, ecological poisoning, grubby troubles, indignities of old age1is the prospect of a long torture. # huge global disaster would not be .our fault,/ would seem to offer release, and the possibility of wiping the slate clean. 2nstead of dying with a whimper, our imagination prefers the scenario of going out in an #pocalypse. 2t is a common form of escapist wishful thinking. 3ost of us secretly believe that we are of the .elect/ who would be taken to the 7ood -lace4 while those who have been our tormentors would finally be punished. &his longing for the #pocalypse would seem to be part of the mindset of the monotheistic religions, as neither pantheists nor Buddhists indulge it. Hindus, however, do have their teaching about the succession of .yugas,/ or ages. &he prophets of #pocalypse connect with our hopes and fears, and support their predictions with .signs/ of the (oming Big 9vent that are observable in present realities. &he preachers often en8oin us to signal our readiness for the return of 5ivine :ustice by renouncing our accustomed ways of life4 and we have sometimes been called to undertake Holy %ars in order to .clear the way/ for the Aingdom of 7od. &he 3ovement for the 'estoration of the &en (ommandments of 7od, a millenarian sect that gathered in Aanungu, ;ganda in the last years of the twentieth century, provides a succinct paradigm of apocalyptic madness$ *ect leaders persuaded thousands of followers that the world would come to an end on 5ecember JE, EFFF. 2n anticipation of this event, believers were induced to give up their money, property and belongings to the sect. %hen the #pocalypse failed to materialize, some members demanded the return of the property they had surrendered to the sect. 6eaders responded by stabbing, strangling, and burning alive over EHHH people. -rophecies of apocalypse function as carrots and sticks, serving to intimidate and confuse people on a huge scale$ as (ampion puts it, .to enchant entire populations, enrolling them mindlessly in the service of history and what is usually imagined to be the common good./ &he drama inevitably turns out to be a ritual sacrifice$ &he 3accabean rebellion, the (rusades, the %ars of 'eligion, the 9mpires, the 'evolutions, the pogroms, 8ehads and ideological purges, the mass suicides associated with :im :ones, the (omet Hale-Bop, and %aco, &K , &he 3ovement for the 'estoration of the &en (ommandments of 7od ? all rituals of death, hoping to defeat the #ntichrist and>or usher in a 0ew -aradise, but always stoking the fires of the same old Hell.

Thou"hts in %onclusion
#s 2 continue trying to understand why human beings imprison themselves in the hellish world of war and slavery, 2 am starting to get a feel for it$ Human creativity gaining power over nature and social relationships, human productive enterprises inevitably requiring a military -rotection 'acket, the snow-balling of power$ the strong getting stronger and the weak pushed forever 8ust up to the verge of perishing4 human ignorance growing in e"act proportion to the development of specialized knowledge and skill4 hierarchy and e"tension of power beyond the capacity to hold moral authority4 replacement of social rapport and good faith by mechanistic formulae4 pro8ection of internal tensions outward onto an 9nemy Other, institutionalized violence and e"ploitation4 corruption and crime becoming the only way to survive. 2 begin to see the cause of evil is appallingly simple, integral to our humanness$ we are creatures capable of great deeds4 the behavior of individuals has a great potential for impact on other individuals, on groups of others, and on 0ature, 8ust because we have rich imaginations and great ambitions, increasingly empowered with intellect and technology. 9ven when we love each other and act with the best of intentions, we often hurt one another. %hen we do not love one another and think of others as .&hem/ rather than as .%e,/ and when we conceive of 0ature as .it/ rather than as .3other,/ murder, rape and pillage are inevitable.

!rom e"ercising what is creative and godlike in our natures, we work ourselves at length into Hell. 2 begin to see that 9ating the #pple of the Anowledge of 7ood and 9vil is indeed an apt allegory for the !all !rom 7race. 2 can see why :udeo-(hristians called it Original *in4 but the institutionalized religions misrepresent it because they are all up to their eyes in it. 2 begin to understand the rationale behind those esoteric traditions that seem to try to wean one off 6ife itself for the sake of attaining freedom from the tyranny of material and social life$ 2t is our fundamental desire for 3ore - food, comfort, security, goodies - that makes us susceptible to tyranny. 2f we have no desires and are ready to die, we can tell the tyrant to go to hell. But that)ll be the day= 2 begin to see the engine of suffering is this$ &here is, ultimately, only one means of livelihood$ e"tortion. 2n order to eat, we take the lives of plants and animals, we imprison livestock to take their milk, meat and wool, we destroy wildlife habitat in order to plant crops, we kill each other to rob and defend property, and on and on. 9"cept in the human spirit, there is no 9den. 0ature is red in tooth and claw. *ociety inevitably involves in8ustice. Original *in is the 7round of Being. %hatever you call it, it is standard equipment in corporeal e"istence. 2ncitements to eradicate the 9vil and return to -aradise go against 6ife itself. *o, 2 conclude$ 2 can stop racking my brains over what is the right way to live4 there is no right way to live. 2t)s bound to be wrong, one way or another. &he observations of &hucydides, 3ontaigne, and 3achiavelli make it clear to me that amorality is not an aberration, but a constant that has its perennial place and use in human social conduct. %hen it)s a matter of confronting the Other, whether barbarian infidels, the .scum/ of one)s own society, or a hostile sibling, people readily drop their moral scruples. &he rule for survival given by the 7ames &heorists is$ .5on)t be the first to break the rules, but once the rules have been dropped, return tit for tat./ 3orals and criminality would seem to function in society much as hormones function in the body$ there are many of them, reinforcing, modulating, and opposing one another in an infinitely comple" choreography. #ccording to daily, monthly and annual rhythms, and in response to environmental conditions, various hormones make us alert or sleepy, aggressive or compliant, hungry or satiated, and on and on. #ccording to changing social conditions and conte"ts we are more or less moral. !or most of us, 3achiavellian amorality must be learned. 2n some times and places pitiless selfishness is what preserves life, as survivors of #uschwitz and Hiroshima regretfully report. 7ood and evil, right and wrong can only be 8udged in the conte"t of specific circumstances, from a particular point of view. @arious participants in the same situation will be bound to see good and evil differently. ;ltimately, in the god)s-eye view, good and evil are both necessary, both inevitable, and both perhaps irrelevant. #lthough the philosophers may be on solid rational grounds when they e"plain away the problem of evil, human beings will always have a problem with it. 2t is not enough to declare that, rationally, evil does not e"ist, because almost all of us are born with a faculty of perception that continually sees it and nags us about it. &he problem of evil may be a delusion, but it is a compelling delusion, one that is not dispelled by rational thought. &he problem of evil is not a problem that can be solved once and for all. Human life inevitably involves us in a never-ending effort to achieve and reconcile various forms of goodness, while minimizing evil. Our moral dilemmas will continue to require of us all the good faith, worldly shrewdness, love, courage, fortitude and wisdom we can call forth from heaven and earth.

*ources
(ampion, 0icholoas, The Great Year: Astrology, Millenarianism, and History in the Western Tradition, 6ondon, -enguin Books, EFFL. Hauser, 3arc 5., Moral Minds: How Nature Designed our Universal ense o! "ight And Wrong, MHHN, 0ew Bork, Harper (ollins. Aekes, :ohn, The "oots o! #vil, 2thaca, 0ew Bork, (ornell ;niversity -ress, MHHO. 6ewis, &., #mini, !., and 6annon, '., A General Theory o! $ove, 0ew Bork, 'andom House, MHHH. 6obaczewski, #.3., and Anight-:adczyk, 6., %oliti&al %onerology: A &ien&e o! #vil Ad'usted !or %oliti&al %ur(oses, with &ommentary and additional )uoted material, #vailable at http$>>www.cassiopaea.org>cass>politicalPponerologyPlobaczewski.htm 3orrow, 6ance, #vil: An *nvestigation, 0ew Bork, Basic Books, MHHJ. 0ietzsche, !riedrich, +eyond Good and #vil, EQQN, translated by %alter Aaufman, 0ew Bork, 'andom House, EFNN. &hucydides, History o! The %elo((onesian War, LHL B.(., translated by 'e" %arner, -enguin Books, EFNL. %aller, 3artin, .%anted$ psychopaths to play the stock market,/ *eptember EF, MHHO, Times ,nline, http$>>www.timesonline.co.uk>tol>news>world>usPandPamericas>articleONQMEQ.ece< printRyesSrandnumREMENNFGLLGHNM