The principle of evil consists in messing into other people’s affairs.
– Ezra Pound via The Gift, Lewis Hyde
Civility requires working on yourself, not just leaving things as they are, but making them over. It involves a struggle to reshape ourselves.
– A Secular Age, Charles Taylor
**i think… **
has evil ever been defined so succinctly…
as Ezra Pound did
and…
evil is not…
a foundational condition of the universe…
but a capacity of intelligence
**i wonder… **
is evil…
a bug…
or a feature
and…
can messing into others affairs…
ever be justified
to stop…
destruction of others…
or self
to stop…
selfish exploitation
and…
who decides…
what is acceptable messing into
and…
if there is no level at which a being can choose…
do evil and good exist
and…
what is the role…
of religion…
of government…
in circumscribing evil
and…
what is the inflection point…
between…
greater good and tyranny…
between…
benevolent authority and despotism
**i believe… **
that…
civility intercepts evil
but…
we have to agree to civility
and…
when we have…
maintenance is required
that…
desire for power…
invites evil to walk abroad
that…
ignorance…
is a vacuum…
into which evil easily expands
that…
accumulate power…
creates a differential space…
into which evil easily slips
that…
accumulate power…
of individuals…
of corporations…
of institutions…
compromises civility of society
that…
accumulate power…
of an ignorant majority…
is no less prone…
to breaching the civility membrane
i think…
that…
much of what the people argue about…
is the messing into their affairs…
by government…
by institutions…
by corporations…
by powerful individuals
i see…
technologies…
that…
facilitate messing into people’s lives…
on an unprecedented scale
that…
victimize…
through technological bait and switch…
offering tenuous, addictive, chimeras of community…
in exchange for the datapoints of our existence
that…
we have given a great power differential…
to the collectors…
managers…
and exploiters of our data
it is time…
to stop…
the techno-fascist juggernaut…
by choosing friendship and hugs…
over click warfare
to return…
to the civility…
of face-to-face, respectful, discourse…
of knowing our neighbors…
of coffee with friends…
of potluck suppers…