This is such an excellent article! Kudos to you!
Here are a couple of points that made me think:
Regarding the idea that “all who do evil and dishonorable things do them against their will”… We can look at this from several angles, beginning with the will and how it is formed. I am inclined to look at evil, excluding the actions of psychopaths and others who suffer from a brain issue, as one of psychological conditioning. Basking and soaking in racism, antisemitism, ugliness, pettiness, hate, fear, etc., the brain actually changes plasticity. It seems to me that neural pathways are formed in the pattern of hate, fear, and divisiveness. The will, then, falls into the context of what one wills or wants based on this conditioning.
Next, in the “Which is worse…” scenario, I always think of the end result, which is suffering. Ultimately, then, the suffering may be a better focal point than the means, because the means can always justify the end.
Your article is worthy of contemplation: What does it take for people to do evil while thinking that they are not doing evil? Certainly we know from fashion and other trends that social acceptability changes with the decades. We can draw a parallel between 1920s Germany and 2020s America in terms of decadence, unrest, hopelessness, anger, corporate greed, and so on. All of these things create a new norm.
It seems evident that Hitler was a psychopath, and so were many of his associates and SS top brass. And psychopaths are always present. The more troubling issue is those who fall for the promises, tricks, and lies of these psychopaths. If we go down Robert Hare’s list of psychopathy we can find the traits that qualify one to be a psychopath (and sociopath) and we can see that Trump checks all the boxes as well.
When we look at the close circle around a psychopath we find people who are afraid to stand in the way of the psychopath and are encouraged and uplifted by the psychopath for following his lead. This has everything to do with personal fear and gratification than any pretended desire to serve any segment of the public in any way. We have seen this with Gaetz, Jordan, MTG, Graham, Cruz, and all the rest who are energized to be the bullies and miscreants that make Trump the happiest.
