|
What Is the 'Root' of Evil?
January 3, 2007 “There
are
a
thousand
hacking
at
the
branches
of
evil
to
one
who
is
striking
at
the
root.”
~
Thoreau Lake
dweller
Henry
David
Thoreau
enjoyed
an
enviable,
pastoral
life
in
the
pre-industrial
age.
Living
in
the
woods
on
the
shore
of
the
60
acre
Walden
Pond,
a
mile
from
the
The
year
was
1845.
Slavery
existed
then
in
What
he
discovered
was
what
most
folks
discover.
Nobody
much
gives
a
damn
about
good
and
evil.
Most
folks
were
just
too
busy.
At
any
moment,
anywhere
in
the
Western
world,
most
men
simply
want
to
work
and
relax,
“get
paid
and
laid,”
as
my
younger
brother
so
clearly
defined
the
focus
of
most
civilizations.
The
only
root
most
men
want
to
strike
lies
between
their
legs. Good?
Evil?
Can
anyone
define
the
terms?
The
Seven
Deadly
Sins
your
definition
of
evil?
What
about
a
flag-waving
series
of
wars
based
on
lies?
Is
that
good
for
some
people
and
evil
for
others?
Most
folks
prefer
their
Congressmen
or
televangelist
or
talk
show
host
to
define
good
and
evil
and
do
all
their
thinking
for
them.
Never
mind
that
these
televangelists
and
US
Representatives
seem
to
represent
themselves,
rather
than
any
declared
ethic,
and
instead
rapturously
rubberstamp
those
wars. “What
is
hateful
to
yourself,
do
not
do
to
another
.
.
.
That
is
the
whole
law,”
Jewish
rabbi
Hillel
taught
about
2,000
years
ago.
But
how
many
top
Jewish
leaders
today
make
foreign
or
domestic
policy
with
that
wisdom
in
mind?
How
many
so-called
Christian
leaders
conduct
their
lives
with
the
Sermon
on
the
Mount
in
mind?
Nobody
in
Congress
that
I
know,
aside
from
Ron
Paul.
Otherwise,
how
could
so
many
hypocrites
have
voted
for
the
Iraq
War? One
hundred
and
sixty
years
ago,
Henry
Thoreau
protested
the
flag-waving
imperial
war
of
his
day.
He
protested
a
poll
tax
by
going
to
jail.
(See
Mass
Moments:
Henry
David
Thoreau
Spends
Night
in
Jail)
Who
would
do
that
today?
One
out
of
a
hundred
people,
maybe?
One
of
a
thousand? Can
a
person
protest
evil? Several
years
ago,
I
got
off
my
fat
ass
and
protested
a
war.
I
spent
Saturdays
and
Sundays
in
the
weeks
before
the
war,
standing
on
a
busy
street
corner
in
What
could
I
tell
them?
What
does
the
protest
of
one
person
accomplish?
Opposing
evil?
What
a
laugh.
Two
weeks
before
the
war,
the
drumbeats
growing
louder,
only
a
fool
would
have
predicted
that
American
politicians
and
the
collaborative
media
would
seek
a
peaceful
way.
So
I
stood
there,
filled
with
self-doubts,
wishing
I
was
getting
paid
and
laid,
aware
of
my
futile
gesture.
Striking
at
the
roots
of
evil?
Hardly.
Probably
not
even
striking
at
the
branches. Thoreau
defended
the
Abolitionist
John
Brown
for
attacking
and
occupying
the
arsenal
at
Harper’s
Ferry,
West
Virginia.
For
his
efforts,
Brown
and
his
co-conspirators—or
heroes—got
hanged.
What
did
Brown
accomplish?
Did
John
Brown
hack
at
the
roots
of
evil?
Did
Thoreau?
A
large
number
of
people
were
killed
in
the
raid
on
the
arsenal.
What
did
Brown
accomplish
but
agitate
a
hornet’s
nest
that
eventually
led
to
the
Confederacy
and
the
War
of
Secession
and
a
half
million
dead?
Arguably,
taking
up
arms
against
evil
might
then
become
a
greater
evil.
Nuclear
retaliation—or
Mutually
Assured
Destruction—comes
to
mind.
The
Root
and
Branches
of
Evil How does a person recognize the so-called greater good and the greater evil? When I define 9-11 as the root of evil that led to the imperial wars in the Middle East, I assert my belief that a conspiracy of evil conspired to create a false flag event by the state. Was 9-11 a root of |