Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6688514" data-attributes="member: 6669384">It never occurred to me to limit Evil to one aspect or vision, such as Nihilism.  I'd always envisioned Evil as a form of selfishness, a casual or even intentional disregard for others in pursuit of one's own goals.  Sometimes the "one's own goals" become the fulfillment of a group goal or ideal, such as an empire, or the destruction of an opposing philosophy or group.  Not every Evil person needs to be the leader, but many seem to wish for it.Consider what happened to Nazi Germany when it was believed that Hitler was dead:  Each of his inner circle attempted to seize power and declare themselves to be the new leader.  The Nazi's were evil by just about any definition, but weren't intent on destruction or nihilism.  They wanted national supremacy for their country, as a way of promoting themselves as being naturally superior to all others.  (Master Race syndrome).  To the people at home, they were saviors who dragged the nation out of economic disaster and turned them into a world power in less than a decade.  Yet their methods and over all goal depended on "taking" at least as much as it did "building".  (And I'm not even touching their most infamous, murderous agenda.)They would be a classic example of Lawful Evil, the imposition of order (their version of it anyway) without regards for the people they would impose it on.Today we see religious fanatics who fit that nihilist mold, who destroy just for the sake of destruction and then brag about it.  It's reported that they are trying to bring about the "End of Days" because, as people have for thousands of years, they believe that "all the signs are there".  I'd comment on some of our home-grown idiots with the same vision, but since at least one of them has held high office it's probably against forum rules to mention any names or factions.They would be a different version of Lawful Evil, in that despite their very public disdain for civilized behavior, they're still operating as an organized group attempting to impose their cause on others.Chaotic Evil, almost by definition, doesn't organize very well.  We've seen a bit of that in the news as well, though not as recently.  "Terror Cells" might be an example.  These groups, which I will again decline to name, are "groups" in name only.  Rather, they are a loose association of people of similar view.  "Leaders" are routinely killed, and just as routinely replaced with little impact on day to day operations.  That's because they are leaders in name only.  They "lead" simply in that they happen to be walking in front of the mob.  In the past when we've tried to negotiate peace with such leaders, the resultant "agreement" wasn't worth the breath needed to announce it.  Why?  Because as soon as a "leader" stopped reflecting the mob's sentiments, they were no longer marching at the head.  They'd made a turn towards peace, and the mob pressed on unabated.  The mob may share resources amongst themselves, as well as a common world view, but there's no guarantee that any two of them agree on method, or on how to achieve that dream-like goal.</blockquote>

Verification