Evil is Not The Problem

It’s not those who do evil deeds that we should worry about, but the real problem are those who would harm others in the name of the Good.

I was listening to a song today about Walther Wenck, a Nazi general tasked by Hitler with defending Berlin at the end of WW2. The story fascinated me, so I read up on the intention behind the song. The historical account goes as follows:

“During the final battle of Berlin in 1945 the general of the 12th army, Walther Wenck realized that the end of the war was coming, and instead of trying to defeat the advancing Soviet forces as his orders were, he used his army to create an escape corridor out of Berlin. For such an act he would surely have been sentenced to death, but instead he ended up being responsible for up to 250 000 people safely escaping the burning city of Berlin. For some this was a battle, for him this was a rescue operation.” — Sabaton

This was a genuine act of heroism. Disobeying direct orders to save civilians under the threat of death is an astonishingly honourable act. However, It may be hard to reconcile this act of virtue with the fact the general was a Nazi.

Nazis are supposed to be evil. They’re monsters. The world banded together to kill Nazis because their ideology was so horrendous. The inconvenient truth, however, is that Nazis believed they were justified in their beliefs. They sincerely thought they were building a better world in the name of goodness and prosperity. This should be the ultimate take away from Nazism and the Second World War- not that Nazis are bad, but that truly awful acts can be done by people who believe they’re good.

It’s also hard to consider that it might not be entirely fair to consider these regimes evil.

What is ‘evil’?

‘Evil’ isn’t just ‘bad’ or ‘super super bad.’

‘Evil’ is to cause suffering for the sake of suffering.

Think of people who are evil and just want to cause suffering for the sake of suffering. School shooters, sadists, those who torture animals… those sort of people. Sure, evil people are a genuine threat on a local level or within communities; but fortunately these people are not a threat on a global level. Evil isn’t sustainable. It can’t get big enough to be a real threat in the same way an organization or government has influence over a large amount of people.

A genuinely evil collective will always collapse in on itself before it becomes too big, if it can even form in the first place. This is because the type of people who are genuinely evil and enjoy causing suffering for the sake of suffering are usually unable to cooperate with others and put their own desires aside for a higher sense of good. It’s no surprise that empires and governments usually collapse when they become corrupt and disconnected from the Good. This is all to say that evil people aren’t a big threat to humanity on a global level.

It’s the awful people who think they are good and bring tremendous suffering to the world in keeping with their convictions who are the real problem. These were the Nazis, the Stalinists, and British Imperialism. If you could sit with (almost) anyone with these ideologues and ask why they’re doing what they’re doing, they will say it’s the right and good thing for them to do. This is the real threat we have to watch out for. These beliefs can brainwash the minds of entire nations and bring people to commit unspeakable atrocities in the name of some warped and demented shadow of goodness.

Now it’s time for some humility and to take a step back and recognize how far we’re willing to go for our conception of goodness, and consider where our beliefs of goodness may cause suffering and harm. Instead of labelling things we don’t like as “evil”, let’s understand why these beliefs and ideologies are/were seductive and extract out of them what is genuinely Goodness, Truth, and Justice.

Because it’s not the evil people we have to watch out for — it’s good people like you who will do terrible things while convinced you’re acting good.