(no subject)

[davidschroth]

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

That's the quote that floated to the front of my consciousness while lurking through my FL tonight...

Comments

[guppiecat]

A valid point, but one that I've always had a bit of a problem with. (Geez I'm argumentative tonight.)

There have been times when "waiting for the right moment" and "doing nothing" seem awfully similar. There are times when it appears inevitable that things are going to hell, and the best you can do it do nothing on some issues while focusing on others.

The one good thing my ex-boss taught me was to pick my battles. It seems that a great many battles have been functionally won or lost, and are still being fought. I think that evil, in aggregate, can triumph over good, if the good, in aggregate, does nothing. However, there are a large number of little evils, and no one person can be expected to fight them all. Thus, I think it makes sense for good to divide their forces (which they do) and recognize that they're all fighting for good, even if they're not all working the same causes (which they don't).

This is a clearer issue when there is one big evil (the common example being Hitler, to invoke Godwin's Law prematurely). I don't think we have one at present.

On the other hand, I might just be avoiding going to bed, as I didn't sleep well last night, and am not anxious to repeat it, so maybe I'm not thinking clearly.