On Evil People

What is the point of calling someone an “evil person”? It seems that doing so shuts one’s mind off from understanding the reasons behind actions that others consider evil. “They are an evil person. They just are. There’s nothing more to them than that they are evil, and should be dealt with accordingly.” It seems very lazy and very inhuman to regard others this way. Would we want to be regarded this way? Or would we want to be understood? Our suffering healed? I would, so I must assume others would, too. I am much more comfortable with calling someone a “good person” than an “evil person,” though I think good and evil are more a matter of doing than being. I understand its shorthand, but the latter does more to hinder than to help, in my humble opinion. And that’s today’s two cents.

Skyler.

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Founder and editor of Everything-Voluntary.com and UnschoolingDads.com, Skyler is a husband and unschooling father of three beautiful children. His writings include the column series “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” and “One Improved Unit,” and blog series “Two Cents“. Skyler also wrote the books No Hitting! and Toward a Free Society, and edited the books Everything Voluntary and Unschooling Dads. You can hear Skyler chatting away on his podcasts, Everything Voluntary and Thinking & Doing.