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
