Jump to content

Politics: Who is Evil?

TahoeHorn

By TahoeHorn
in Cloak Room

 Share

Recommended Posts

TahoeHorn

TahoeHorn 107

Posted
Posted

What politicians are evil (as opposed to being good people with whom you just happen to disagree about politics)?  Or deplorable, despicable, unethical, bad, ...

How many Senators fit the spec?  What percentage of the voting public fits the spec?

What percentage of your friends and relatives have political views you despise?

I don't think any current US Senators are evil.  I thought John Edwards was evil or despicable or whatever.  Hillary is disgusting but not evil.  I despise Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren but I suspect that they are actually good people.  They just have absolutely detestable political ideas.

In my life I don't have a problem with people like Bernie Sanders.  I can disagree without being disagreeable.  I only have problems with people I think are immoral.  If they lie or cheat I have a problem.  I may not get along with them if they are the type (and there are many) who can't disagree without being disagreeable.  If they start acting like an ass then I'll have a problem with that.

I'm on very good terms with many people who hold political views I despise.

One of the things that perplexes me is how people can see so many political views as right and wrong.  Some are.  Not many.  Most are just the way I things things should work versus the way you think.  I can see, for example, how you can have a different opinion on guns, God or gays.  I can't see why you think someone whose positioon is different from yours is evil.  Or why you get angry at a person who expresses a different opinion, as if they are bad.

When I look at posts and posters, some people talk about positions.  Others talk about the poster or people with that idea.  Go down threads on, for example gun control, and see which posts are about gun control policy and which are about posters.  I just don't get it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
David Dennison

David Dennison 18652

Posted
Posted
Just now, Hugo Stiglitz said:

I have issues with calling anyone evil, as if they are past the point of any redemption.

I’m of the opinion it’s never too later to do the right thing and change one’s ways.

Agreed. 

Donald Trump isn't evil, he's just an incompetent, corrupt fool who's in way over his head.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29775

Posted
Posted (edited)

Anyone cowardly enough to vote other than their conscience.

Anyone who knowingly lies and/or attacks truth for partisan election reasons.

These are despicable people. I don't like the word evil because it suggests that the evil person is different fundamentally from the non-evil. We all make choices and the course of those choices can change.

I was surprised to read that Mitch McC is a staunch defender and promoter of Civil Rights. I foolishly assumed he was pretty much all bad because of his obstruction for the sake of obstruction and his spinelessness in standing up to Trump. I'm sure there are some things that all of them do to make themselves feel better about the evil they do.

Edited by RomaVicta
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
kopp0e

kopp0e 1135

Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

I have issues with calling anyone evil, as if they are past the point of any redemption.

I’m of the opinion it’s never too later to do the right thing and change one’s ways.

I'm sure there were a many young & eager folks that entered the fray of politics only to realize, if you want to be re-elected, you must appease the voting base that got you elected...

Unless it somehow undermines the ability for the politician to work the system of special interest groups in gaining an advantage over another politician looking to replace him/ her...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31264

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, kopp0e said:

I'm sure there were a many young & eager folks that entered the fray of politics only to realize, if you want to be re-elected, you must first whore yourself out for campaign contributions and then appease the most venal portions of the voting base that got you elected by introducing/advocating for/passing legislation that is not in the national interest or even the local interest, but will get you votes...

Unless it somehow undermines the ability for the politician to work the system of special interest groups in gaining an advantage over another politician looking to replace him/ her...

Fify.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Anastasis

Anastasis 23393

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

29 minutes ago, lemonlime said:

Few people are truly evil.  Though Trump, McConnell, Prince and a few others may qualify.  A better thread would be about the ways so called "good" people enable evil to spread.

You think Trump and McConnell personify evil, you have a water down understanding of what the face of evil looks like. Trump, as abhorrent as he is porn star fucking while his wife nurses his newborn, doesn't even register in the global evil scale. The Turtle?  The Turtle? LOL.

Edited by Anastasis
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JimmyJames

JimmyJames 12271

Posted
Posted

One of the great things about Breaking Bad is it does a very good job of answering the OPs question. Most all people aren’t evil, but they make choices that they justify that are in fact evil and eventually they become that way, but most people don’t reach the level of becoming gone beyond all hope. Some do. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BurntOrangeCrush

BurntOrangeCrush 1004

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, lemonlime said:

Few people are truly evil.  Though Trump, McConnell, Prince and a few others may qualify.  A better thread would be about the ways so called "good" people enable evil to spread.

I was thinking about the OP's question and I couldn't have said it better than this. 

To be honest, I don't think there are a lot of evil politicians but I also don't think there are very many honest legislators that truly care about their constituents. They serve their party, their special interest groups, and will whore themselves out to ensure they stay in office.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mole

Mole 4320

Posted
Posted

Trump is particularly unethical and dishonest in a city of unethical and dishonest people, but he isn't evil. Among mainstream politicians, he's probably the closest that I can think of, but he isn't very close. 

The sooner we accept that our opponents aren't necessarily stupid or evil, and deal with their ideas, the sooner we deal with the pathology of our culture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bernorange

bernorange 8348

Posted
Posted
Quote

evil

[ee-vuh l]

 

adjective

1.
morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked:
evil deeds; an evil life.
2.
harmful; injurious:
evil laws.

Arguably, every one of them has supported legislation or political actions that are morally wrong/bad and/or harmful/injurious on the whole.  Given that context, it would seem that the label fits them all to one degree or another.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Degenerate Gardner

Degenerate Gardner 4081

Posted
Posted

To "be" evil is a steady state that few achieve.  Judging it accurately requires looking inside a man's heart and soul, an impossible feat.

The list of those who commit evil acts is much longer.

No one's evil.  Everyone's evil.  It's just one giant goddamn gray area, right?

Now back to your dissembling.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hank Kingsley

Hank Kingsley 20678

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, TahoeHorn said:

What politicians are evil (as opposed to being good people with whom you just happen to disagree about politics)?  Or deplorable, despicable, unethical, bad, ...

Stop arguing about the definition of evil.  Tahoe stupidly titled the thread and defined it above. 

Is Trump a good person? No. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rimbo

Rimbo 25773

Posted
Posted

I find it more useful to attribute "evil" to actions, instead of to people. People are neither "good" nor "evil," but they do good things and they do evil things, with and without intent.

Sure, if someone's intentionally doing evil things most of the time, you can probably sum the person up as "evil," but again, this isn't useful, unless you've done step one above first.

It's tough to make legitimately justifiable sweeping generalizations about people, but easy to do so for acts. For example, it's pretty easy and safe to say that most anti-immigration politics are based on ignorance and fear, and thus -- intentionally or otherwise -- we can describe these laws and actions as evil pretty easily.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NameAlreadyInUse

NameAlreadyInUse 5106

Posted
Posted

I don't know who is evil.  I do know that there are several associated with politics who do evil things in the name of $$.  Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Pat Robertson (and all his televangelist lookalikes) all make up shit and lie, knowing full well its a lie, because its what their patrons want to hear.  This makes them rich.  Those guys may not be evil, but they sure as hell are not living up to the standards they claim to hold dear.  Those people have gotten rich duping grandma and grandpa into being scared of their own shadow enough to enable our politicians to be the nincompoops they've become.  And they are the ones that would eventually pave the way for some more restrictive form of government within the US should we get far enough down this rabbit hole.   I'd put those a lot closer to the evil category than any politician that's coming to mind right now.

Politicians are looking for 2 things.  Money and power.  They are going to say things to make and keep both, even if they have no intention of acting on what they are saying.  Most of them put country over party these days, and I find that sickening, but I don't think it rises to the level of evil.  At least not yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Are ideas bigger threats of evil than actions?

 

seems as of late, just disagreeing with someone borders on a complete affront to one's very being. 

 

(Obviously) I favor throwing shit around in a discussion. I like people who give different perspectives. For some that just seems to be such a threat. 

 

So they said something crazy or unpopular.  Did they hurt anyone?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mole

Mole 4320

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Rimbo said:

it's pretty easy and safe to say that most anti-immigration politics are based on ignorance and fear, and thus -- intentionally or otherwise -- we can describe these laws and actions as evil pretty easily.

 

I'm pretty pro-immigration, but even if we grant the bolded part (which I would question), it doesn't necessarily follow that they are evil.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...