In the same way that no-one can be completely "beyond the Pale" (our souls are eternal, after all, and those drama queens who think [and I've made this error] a few millions years are significant in the context of eternity are wrong - which is also why hate is such a problem: hate someone and you're going to have problems when you inevitably come into contact with them again, maybe a few thousands or millions of years hence), so too is the thought that people can evolve beyond ever being "evil".
If they're alive on this world, people can always potentially backslide.
I've been thinking about this as I've started reading the Bob Woodward and Robert Costa book "Peril" (Simon & Schuster UK, 2021, ISBN 978-1-3985-1215-3; Amazon) (I don't normally buy books that cost as much as it did, and the previous two in the series were too depressing to contemplate, but this one was so well written, from the free e-book sample I read, that I broke my budgeting rule), about the election of Biden and the transition from #45 to Biden. I haven't got to the section about the attempted insurrection on 6th January, 2021 yet (I'm only about a third of the way through it), but there are a few things that have struck me.
One is the comprehensiveness of preparation and thinking of Lt. General Mark Milley ("We Were Soldiers Once - and Young" also gives a good accounting of the thorough research, thinking and preparation of good soldiers, as does the War on the Rocks blog .. and it is interesting in a trivial sort of way that the Lt. General and I are of a similar age).
Part of that preparation included getting advice on how to handle a narcissistic person like #45. The advice included not humiliating that sort of person in public (which explains some of the run-ins I've had with people I've stood up to in the past), and the amount of effort that goes in to keeping #45 as close as possible to rationality is staggering - and terrifying (FFS, USA - catch up with the LATE 1800s and GET THE F RID OF YOUR BLOODY STUPID ELECTORAL COLLEGE SYSTEM!!!).
The only point, which has led to this post, is that #45 was initially heading towards admitting that he had lost the election, until the evil and/or insane (they are COMPLETELY out of touch with reality - I consider the word fits) gophers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell got their claws into him.
Sure, #45 was also evil, but he had an opportunity ... and chose to go down the wrong path. And it makes no difference that others were advising him badly - he was also getting good advice, and actively chose the former over the latter.
That can happen to all of us, and I'd like to review some of the reasons that can happen - there are others, and there will be others I haven't heard of, but this is a start to maybe stimulate some thought on your part, Dear Reader.
To begin with, there are lifestyle vulnerabilities, which I wrote about here. I won't rep[eat that content here, this is just to stimulate some thought and, maybe, research, so ... do Lt. General Milley proud, and click on the link 😁
The next point is failing to work with (not "manage" - these are valuable tools) emotions. See here, and especially the links there (don't forget to keep Lt. General Milley proud 😁 ).
Next, consider:
- fear of complexity;
- being "flummoxed by the unfamiliar"; and
- the concept of negative learning.
The other risk factor I have become aware of as I age and my health declines (partly due to work pressures/expectations in our neoliberal poisoned society) is that of exhaustion.
When you are young, healthy, and feeling strong, it is easy enough to take on a task ... but it is another to keep at it after a half century of a challenging life, a life exposed to the bigotry that is society's underbelly, combined with lifestyle vulnerabilities, family issues, and the effects of appalling governance from neoliberals and authoritarians.
This is part of why I am aiming to finish the Magickal Battle of the World series by the end of the year: that will allow me to take fuller advantage of the end of the year work break.
But I can now well understand how people who are desperately, desperately exhausted, ill, or afraid, can make decisions that they may regret - in some cases, even seconds later.
For those not in such situations, please consider that we need to be kinder, gentler, and generous to each other - and ALL sentient life.
I know I'm going to think more kindly of those who try to change or manage problem situations / systems "from within".
