On the Existence of Evil...

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the concept of "evil." This concept is referred to in many cultures, by many different names. Many cultures, thought-systems, and religious and faith systems refer to the problem of demonic forces. Another term for these forces I have recently come across is Ahrimanic (via an Antrhoposophical writer.) I have also read about what Edgar Cayce referred to as the "Sons of Belial." Different groups of people advocate different responds to demonism (or evil forces of whatever type.) One common approach to the problem of destructive, violent, cruel behavior is to name it, label it - and seek to destroy it through a variety of measures, punitive, and/or exclusionary.

Last night I went to see a presentation (by Stephen Zarlenga) about the problems in our monetary and economic system (American Monetary Institute) - namely the inequities and injustices that exist. At one point in the presentation, the presenter referred to what he feels are evil forces that are bent on continuingly putting people down - oppressing the masses in favor of the freedom for a few...

Obviously, it's understandable how the current system, iniquitious and unequal - discriminatory, oppressive and tyrannical - could be interpreted and perceived as bearing some sort of evilness.

However, I was struck with a thought after the author referred to the problem of evil interests. I think there is an alternative theory for why people do wrong to each other. there is an alternative, and I believe workable, theory for why people put each other down and hurt each other. The theory is this: people hurt each other, and put each other down, because of their own wounds, their own sense of insufficiency and inadequacy. People have a notion that success is dependent on having power over others, on having power over their environment. People get ego-boost from feeling superior over others, and then, once superior - they abuse their position, putting people down, treating people as if they are inferior.

The fact is that all people have power. All of us. All human beings have personal power. All human beings deserve to be respected.

Perhaps the appearance of evil is just that, an appearance. And what is really at the heart of harmful economic activity, and destructive competition, are petty fears about loss, about personal loss, about loneliness, isolation, insufficiency.

...So that if we were to be more generally supportive, respectful, and tolerant of each other, then people wouldn't feel the need to wield power over each other. And instead of wielding power over each other - people would seek to wield power to serve each other - to serve the best and true interests of a healthy and sustainable human civilization.

Let's stop hurting each other people.

Evolution from a culture of conquest, domination, consumption and intolerance — to a culture of consent, sharing, cooperation, spirituality, creativity, and sustainability... etc.

However, it's possible that there are truly evil / demonic forces. At this point I am undecided. And even if there are truly evil forces (or individuals), then it is no less important to treat those destructive elements in a way that is fair and nondiscriminatory. For example, instead of punitive justice only - major efforts could be made in the direction of restorative justice.

p.s. additional thought to consider: what are the effects of materialism, and the culture of consumption, on humanity and planetary ecology?

Peace,
Berd

p.p.s. human labor is not a commodity

Conquest Versus Cooperation

We try to conquer each other every day. We compete over who has the most stuff. We race to see who can get to a red light first. Then we step on the gas to see who can accelerate away from it faster. We are surrounded by the culture of conquest in every day life. And it's mostly unconscious. We mostly don't even realize it.

For example: Who has the latest bling-bling? We worry about fashion while people half-way around the world starve, and suffer any number of brutal assaults against their personal beings and human dignity.

We are living, as part of this society, drastically and dramatically out of proportion, and out of scale, with the planet's ability to provide. We are on a downward spiral. If this doesn't change, more and more energy will be poured into diminishing returns. Energy, of all Earthbound kinds, is becoming more and more scarce, and more and more difficult to access and maintain. It's a chain-reaction. It's a self-destructive cycle.

Yet, nonetheless, we have an opportunity to build a different culture. We can build a culture of cooperation, compassion, kindness, equitable use of resources... Yes we can.

So let's compare some of the aspects of these rival cultures. Below I have created a list.

This is a work in progress. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I am sure that I have left out some major and important points.

Please feel free to add terms to the lists.

Culture of Conquest	Culture of Cooperation
violent imperial exploitative hurtful harmful domineering authoritative controlling militaristic destructive socially degrading environmentally degrading dehumanizing corrupt dishonest divisive focusing on differences hateful malicious selfish greedy racist judgmental make assumptions jump to conclusions	nonviolent sharing compassionate kind loving trusting honest truthful respectful constructive productive of lasting achievement uplifting life-serving participatory democratic consensual peaceful life-affirming benign generous tolerant and accepting of differences regarding race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, etc. treat all people equally ask questions