Thomas Hobbes believed mankind was inherently evil. He believed we are incapable of behaving as a civilized moral society on our own without the guidance of an absolute ruler. We are barbaric and cruel to everyone, caring only for ourselves and our own needs rather than that of our fellow man. I don't believe that. If mankind did not have at least an ounce of kindness in him, history would have played out much differently. Not just because of the moral values we instill in our institutions, but because we have a concept of a hero. We have stories dating back centuries of men and women standing in the face adversity and winning. But even more so than that, but because some of the key qualities of most heroes are kindness and love. But it's not just our heroes that believe in these values.
A few years ago I read a story about a professor who challenged his students with the question: is God real? three words, simple yes or no answer format. But not a simple subject. One student, naïve and brash, yelled of course He exists. The professor responds, and He created everything? Again he yells, yes He did! With a smirk the professor replies so that means He created evil? The student is now not so sure of himself and replies, well no sir, I don't think so. If He didn't create evil, then He didn't create everything right? The professor smugly replied and if He did, then that means He is also evil, and therefore not a benevolent God. The class was silent. He exclaims once again I have proved God cannot exist. But another student stands and asks the professor: Does cold exist? A little confused but full of confidence the professor replies well of course it exist, what kind of question is this? Haven't you ever been cold before? The student calmly replied No sir, cold does not exist. What we call cold is actually just an absence of heat, which is a unit of energy. There is no "cold particle" but simply an absence of the energy required to make heat. He then asks: does darkness exist? Yes, the professor responds, haven't you ever seen shadows or been in a dark room before? As calmly as before the student says, wrong again sir, darkness does not exist. What we describe as dark is an absence of light. You cannot measure darkness itself, you measure the light in the region, or the lack thereof in dark places. The student then posed a final question: Does evil exist? The professor is now less confident in himself, but he replies, well yes, we see it in mankind's infinite capacity for war and violence. We see it in the corrupted government offices and in the countries without food and basic human necessities because someone in power denied it to them. With a polite smile, the student responds, once again, you are wrong. Evil does not exist, or at least not in itself. Evil is simply the absence of love and kindness in one's heart. When someone has an absence of care for their fellows, they do not have increase in capacity to do vile things, but rather a decrease in capacity to feel mercy for those they harm.
Evil is a serious problem. Just as much as the cold is for those without a place to call home, and darkness is a problem for those without light. As Citadel Cadets we are constantly being exposed to new ideals and arguments on morality and ethics. We have lectures on issues that are not so black and white, but grey and we then have to decide what would we do in those situations. And there are no easy answers. In more than just morality but in most aspects of our development. America has become complacent. And complacency is the enemy of achievement. It's time for us to get up and take a stand. But we must remember evil is not combated by violence and destruction. It is not combated by division and distrust. It is combated by allowing love and kindness to grow in your heart so that you can share it with others. We all share this planet. We all live here, and we will all die here. And if we cannot secure a foothold for a better world for ourselves, we will only be taking away light, warmth, and love from future generations. Anyone can be a hero. All you need is love.
