Evil and Its Consequences on Society

Evil is an interesting word in the English language, but what does it mean? It is used to describe a myriad of different actions. Yet if a group of people was forced into a spot and all asked to name evil acts some people in the group would disagree. Why is it that some people disagree with others on what counts as an evil act? What does this indicate about the true nature of evil as a concept? All good questions will be answered in time. Let’s start with the first question. What is evil?

Evil can be interpreted in several different ways. For example, most people agree that what the fascists did in the 1930s to Jewish people was morally wrong. However, some people like anti-semites disagree. So is it something that has to be agreed on, and if so why? Evil as a word is nebulous, it interacts with morality and discussions of atrocities in very interesting ways. When a person is in a talk and another person calls what is being discussed evil it changes the entire discourse. The reason why is that evil is not just a word, it is a label describing something as inherently morally wrong. Something with absolutely no positive sides.

Evil as a Label

So back to that example of genocide, the reason some people don’t agree that what they did was wrong is that they are holocaust deniers. For hateful reasons, these people don’t agree with the common sentiment that antisemitism is bad. The word evil is useful for folks like this because the rest of the wider society can just call these people evil and go back to their day. However, this isn’t helpful for discourse on societal issues. Simply branding something as evil takes away all the nuance of the discussion.

In the semi-recent conversations about critical race theory, right-wing politicians and pundits did everything in their power to place the evil label and connotation on what was once an unknown collegiate-level course. Placing these sorts of labels on things hinders social progress. The labels sway the public from educating themselves on different topics. Imagine if there wasn’t so much misinformation on vaccines. If things like modern medicine were to be seen for what it is then maybe society could look a little better. Maybe a million Americans wouldn’t have died during the pandemic. This applies not only to just the word evil but to phrases like “it has the devil in it”.

Evil as an Idea

These phrases and words hinder society’s understanding of issues. Knowledge has no morality, it is each person’s choice what they do with knowledge. For example, a person with deep knowledge of how fascism works can help governments prevent themselves from going down that path. Critical race theorists could help people break away from the misinformation and see that critical race theory is just a college course for law students.
Knowledge is for the betterment of the world, that is the only purpose it serves. However, it can be manipulated to create harmful realities for humanity.

Why would one want to use the connotation of evil in such a malicious manner? One answer could be that misinformation is profitable. To have an entire society call the information that would uncover mass exploitation evil is highly profitable. Climate change science suffered a similar fate. Climate change science is very simple, the world is getting hotter because we are making it hot. However, because of decades of misinformation, that very simple understanding is muddied with false truths and lies beyond comparison. The use of that word and phrases like it have done indescribable damage to the modern world.

The Future of Evil

To answer the question, evil is not an act, it is an idea. One that spans across generations. It shuts down nuanced conversations about complex topics. Evil isn’t born or made, it is an idea that is placed on things like a mask of wrongdoing. One day discourse will be cleansed of the disease that is the impact of using that word. Maybe societies down the line will find ways to gain a better understanding of subjects without using the word. In the meantime society, for the sake of having a better understanding of things could move on from the shackles of debate and move to make action to solve the modern world’s problems

Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Edited by Sheena Robertson

Source:

NewYorker: What Do We Mean By “Evil”? by Rollo Romig 

coronavirus.jhu.edu: U.S. OFFICIALLY SURPASSES 1 MILLION COVID-19 DEATHS by Doug Donovan 

Featured and Top Image Courtesy Stanley Zimney’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License

Inset Image Courtesy MaZzuk’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License