Good and Evil

In the last two weeks, I have noticed I am changing the way I used to think about good and evil.  I used to believe there are actually evil people and good people out there. That it was just a matter of degree as to who was either totally evil or a very good person.   Lately, I have been thinking that no such polarity exists as we are all part of the whole.

What comes to mind is what the Dalai Lama said (please see my post on Freedom on February 3rd) about how we need to separate the action from the actor.  My evolving view is that someone can do something evil for any number of reasons but that doesn't make that person evil.  Making the statement that someone is evil or good is more of a judgment than anything else.  It's a judgment without having all the facts.  The reason why someone engages in evil acts is usually a way of striking back at something - whether the person was abused as a child, whether the person is so insecure that attacking first is a way to gain a sense of security, or whether fear is the most prevalent emotion and attacking is a way to sublimate those fears, etc., etc.  There is also mental illness involved in many of these situations.  I'm not trying to justify evil actions.  They are deplorable.  People that hurt other people must be made accountable for those actions.

There are various expressions of good and evil in our society and I'll explore a few of these in this post.  A distinction of  good and evil gets murky when people that seem to be perfectly sane commit evil acts in the name of the ideologies they support.   I'm not sure that the person that kills or tortures people in the name of democracy is any different from the person that kills or tortures people in the name of an authoritarian regime.  What's the difference?  The fight for a any "noble" or "ignoble" cause that uses methods that destroy others' lives at any level in the name of that cause is the same to me.  The only difference is the banner under which the fight takes place.  Which is why I always admired the organization Amnesty International.  No matter the regime, they advocate for human rights, period.  Human rights that exist no matter which political party is in power or is trying to get that power.  That makes total sense to me.

In business, the subject of good and evil is also complicated.  I was appalled to discover that there are no business ethics that are generally agreed to in the business community but rather each company creates their own ethical construct.  Laws don't cover all rules of behavior that should exist in an office - at least not in the United States.  It is up to senior management in every company to create a code of ethics and to uphold it.

Yes, in the U.S. there are laws that in some way protect employees with the most blatant violations of human rights but there are repercussions when laws are broken and one sues one's company.  One of these is that one's reputation may be impacted negatively.  When one sues, this becomes part of a record that may be accessed by any prospective employer.  By the way, one would practically need to be found gagged and tortured in a closet in your boss' office by a policeman to be able to sue one's employer and win.  Only other chance of winning would be to have unlimited financial resources equal to those the company has in place to go all the way with a case that has merit and there is some evidence.

There are companies that believe that treating their employees well and creating a positive environment where ethical behavior is expected is the norm.  I have been very lucky to have worked in one of those companies.  It doesn't mean that psychotic or insecure people weren't still causing havoc but it was limited havoc as sooner or later these people are discovered because they repeat this behavior again and again.  Like the Scorpion and the Frog in one of Aesop's Fables, it's their irrepressible nature and it comes through again and again.  They can't help but to act a certain way.

A company is a microcosm of the world around us so there are as many kinds of people in a large company as there are in a town:  inspiring leaders, drug addicts, alcoholics, family oriented people, liars, paranoid schizophrenics,  balanced,  psychotic, admirable professionals, etc.  It's all a matter of degrees.  Sometimes people reserve lying to covering their tracks, or lying about someone that may be a threat in some way.  I am finding more and more that there is a more of an overt "dog-eat-dog" environment in most companies, where backstabbing, lying and trying to gain ground professionally in any way possible is standard behavior.

What I have been thinking lately is that what makes someone act in a good way versus evil way has to do with his or her soul.  The more advanced souls "know" how to behave and they have intrinsic values they live by versus younger souls that are finding their way.  In the process, these younger souls will live lifetimes of learning how to "know" how to behave.

As Mark Twain said:
"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes."

I am not necessarily contradicting myself but I am rethinking some things I used to believe in. I will continue to evolve my thinking about this topic.  I do contain multitudes.  I am also exposed to a world that challenges and changes me on a daily basis.  That's very exciting. On the subject of good and evil, this is where I am today.