3 ms·

Some people do things that they know are bad for others because they want to hurt others.

• luckylion 4y ago
  Sure, but I don't believe you run into a lot of actually evil villains in politics that only do what they do because they want to see suffering and want their action to scale instead of ripping the wings from a butterfly one by one. Stalin or Mao didn't just enjoy seeing peasants starve, they believed that sacrificing a million here and there is the price to pay for the communist utopia they thought they were building.
  • JohnBooty 4y ago
    I agree that very few, if any, leaders are intentionally evil. Even the most (in)famous ones such as your examples. However, I'm not sure the distinction is too useful. Ultimately we're judged by actions, not intentions.
    • luckylion 4y ago
      Certainly, I was just pointing out that that's the very problem with the position that someone or some group shouldn't be morally judged for things they do/cause while having good intentions. It's a tough problem, and I guess we're mostly basing our judgement on results. Push through a stupid policy and it's expensive but nobody freezes and you'll be forgotten. Do the same and be unlucky and a million citizens freeze because of it and you won't be forgiven.