Title
Guillotines
Police. As much as I hate their current incarnation, I. Some form or fashion they are required to handle those that do harm to others intentionally.
Except here’s the thing: in every form and fashion, they don’t actually do anything to the ones doing the most harm
Government.
In an ideal world, everyone would get along and coordinate effectively in a voluntary manner. There would be no need for any government to enforce laws or provide services.
You consider any form of government evil?
HAHAHHAHA yeah
Yeah they are
Money. It encourages greed, but it allows us to scale exchange of goods and services far more than we otherwise could
Existence. It’s also a paradox because without existence it’s impossible to be either evil or necessary.
Mosquitos.
Fuck them. But without them most ecosystems would fail
But without them most ecosystems would fail
a minor hiccup, at most. Many ecosystems wouldn’t even notice.
Is there any evidence for that?
I can’t think of a single one.
Conscription.
Not sure why anyone’s downvoting this. If someone you’ve never met thinks that you have to put your life on the line, and therefore may possibly die, to further a cause - let them explain that cause. If they can’t convince you it’s more important than your life, then maybe it isn’t.
See: Vietnam, etc.
Edit: My bad, I was thinking, “What’s a good example of evil?” - Conscription should never be “necessary”. The only thing conscription does is protect the status quo. Keep the upvote - it was an honest mistake on my part.
Vietnam is a good example of a bad example. WWII is a better example of the necessary evil part, especially countries that were invaded.
Necessary for what? The word necessary implies a goal. Evil also implies a religious type objective morality. I don’t think though, that for the goal of living a happy life, any harm is theoretically necessary.
I don’t think though, that for the goal of living a happy life, any harm is theoretically necessary.
Whose happiness are we talking about? Surely if one person’s happiness conflicts with someone or something that already exists, they can’t both have happiness and harmlessness. (Also, what are you considering harm? Just harm to people? What about animals? Plants? The planet as a whole?)
Modern human life is inherently very harmful to a wide range of things.
Jordan Peterson, is that you? 🙃
for real, are you serious? you’re gonna call names at the moral relativist dude, saying he’s the dude who believes that hierarchies are morally good because they exist??? how inconsistent can you get
Define Jordan Peterson. Define you.
Ok Doug
I just see a blank image
That’s annoying, it totally displayed on my side. I think I fixed it now, but kinda ruined my joke…
Luigi mangione
Violence against fascists.
Go to your room and close door.
Evil that’s necessary isn’t evil, just painful.
Anyway, my example: a fever? 😅
Lobotomy, electroshock and castration are historic treatments for various extreme mental disorders that were, probably mistakenly, considered necessary evils lacking other treatments.
These days prozac, benzos and lithium fall into a similar category.
I’m not sure if you’re comparing SSRIs to castration but I’m gonna assume you’re not.
I dont think any prescriber would consider any of those medicines necessary. a much better example would be steroids like prednisone. it weakens your immune system, but it’s absolutely necessary at times.
SSRIs are rarely necessary, but are a useful tool. too much to say on this.
Benzos are a short term solution to enable more longer term treatments. they’re absolute monsters of a drug class, but really effective for sure.
fentanyl would be a better example of a necessary evil. it’s synthesis revolutionized surgery.
finally, lithium is a funny example – we still don’t even really know how it works!! but it’s a mood stabilizer and can be hugely beneficial for managing bipolar disorder. that said, one can attempt to manage bipolar symptoms without medications, but it’s certainly going to be harder and possibly less effective
When your only option to make people talk about your cause and occupation is comitting attrocities