DAY 5: Politics of Evil

Politics and evil seem to go hand in hand. If we look at the manifested consequences of politics in today's world, we find wars, killings, death of civilians and increased distrust among people and countries; if we look at the word Evil, we see Live spelled backward. So in essence, both politics and evil have the potential to exist against human life and any form of life in our planet. I have deliberately written the word "potential" to remind ourselves that whatever exists in this world can be redirected and redefined towards what is the best for all and not necessarily accepted and allowed to exist as it is - meaning, by analysing the consequences of politics and evil as we know it we can/must take responsibility to assess what is it we can learn from and finally change.

I will take M. Scott Peck's definition of evil "as the use of political power to destroy others for the purpose of defending or preserving the integrity of one's sick self" (Peck, 1990, p.277) which allow us to have a framework to analyse the current world events in international politics. Simultaneously, if we are to look at politics from a psychological point of view, we must not ignore the psyche behind the political machine which is, and has always been, the human mind. Therefore, acts of evil are found in the individual relationships and among nations - as within so without.

The world events that have been taking place since the crash of the Malaysian airplane in Ukraine on the 17th July are another example of the extent of evil that must exist within human beings to then be manifested in the outer world - I am not only referring to whoever pushed the button to launch the missile that supposedly destroyed the plane, but to the growing antagonism that exists between people, and therefore nations, that consider doing such actions in first place. For example, the fact that in the Western world we know so little about the East and even about Asia is an indicator that there is a gap that should be unacceptable if we are to coexist in mutual understanding and support. Obviously, the reality is that in political theory a key tool to move the chess-game in a certain direction is the "enemy creation" or hatred of a specific out-group, in order to legitimise the actions against that predesignated enemy (Peck, 1990, p.258). Therefore, the lack of knowledge and the fear of another is actually a strategy to keep people against each other and fearing the "other side". If we bring this point into our daily lives, in self-honesty we can see that we fear that which we don't understand. However, once we are aware of this human weakness, we can and must transform it into a potential - what I mean by that is, if we fear something that we don't understand, the solution will be to ask questions, to investigate, to get to know the fear and in common sense let the fear go so that a new relationship can begin. Such potential also exist in politics, whereby we should educate and be educated to understand the other, to close the gap and to find solutions that would benefit both peoples.

Another dimension in the politics of evil is the role of fear. Nowadays, fear is the perfect Trojan Horse to manipulate people's behaviour, which eventually also supports governments to take certain decisions in the name of the public opinion. Using fear to convince people about a certain claim should not be valid because people have voted for the heads of government in a vote of trust, trusting that the decisions would be transparent without a hidden agenda from the people, but curiously enough we are not educated to think critically, read critically and listen critically. If we are automated beings that respond to fear and emotions so well, aren't we likely to be controlled and manipulated? Once again, by bringing this point to myself I see how some reactions I had in love relationships were done to get a specific outcome from the other - This is manipulation in a smaller scale but nonetheless it is a pattern of self-dishonesty. What I am realising is that whatever happens in the world "out there" is a mirror of our own acceptances and allowances accumulated throughout time; the lies in the world are a reflection of the lies we keep telling to ourselves; this also means that we will only see  the truth of this world when we see the truth of ourselves, no matter how tough it is to face oneself and one's self-dishonesties.

There is indeed actions of evil leading many decisions in this world. Isn't war the best example of evil at a worldwide scale that is still running the show? The reality is that we as a whole are still accepting and allowing such evil to rule in diplomacy, in the world economy, in the production of goods, in the innovation and technology and in the mindset of so many youngsters that can't find a job. Other questions that come up now is Why is there profit in evil? Why haven't we found a way to profit from creation rather than destruction? By bringing this point to the current state of the world, would there be an airplane being crashed if missiles weren't built in first place? Obviously No. There would be no reasons to start or feed a war if war was out of option.

One exercise that each one can do within oneself is to see where one is being evil to oneself, and to others - How is one using power to destroy others for the purpose of defending or preserving the integrity of one's sick self, to defend one's own image, ego and mind? And thus one is able to see where one can change from evil to living one's utmost potential of integrity of a self-honest self.

World history is a mirror of all humanity's acceptances and allowances and many examples show the extend of dishonesty that people in the name of countries or self-interest are willing to go to simply defend a reputation and an image. As part of the process of covering the truth with lies, we will find the snowball of misunderstanding, miscommunication and separation that eventually escalates and has the power to destroy people's lives globally, just like it ends up with marriages at a personal level. The devastating consequences of these inner-outer dishonest relationships would be avoided if one was to stop, look at oneself and investigate the origins of the evil narcissistic, egocentric and self-image starting point. This is the inevitable journey of life that each one of us is responsible for starting if we are to change the direction of this world and our humanity as a whole. The price of covering up our dishonesty, both within and in the world (e.g. through destroying evidences), is not worthy compared to the potential of living in this world if we were to put down the weapons and decide together the best ways to manage resources, peoples and our lives in coexistence.

Bibliography:

Peck, M.S. (1990) People of The Lie, The hope for healing human evil, London: Arrow Books Limited