this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2026
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We really don't have to do anything right. They'll just destroy each other.
They will eventually, but they'll destroy everything weaker than them first.
The thing is that evil is a tactical decision - it ignores strategic goals for immediate gratification. Risk / reward calculations are predicated on short term solutions for immediate problems, and long term effects are ignored until they can't be anymore.
For this reason, evil societies don't work well - people are viewed as disposable resources to be spent to maintain short term gains, not as investments in the future collective wealth of the society. This means that social cohesion is based not on trust, but on fear - fear that someone higher up the chain will take what you have and discard you the moment you're not useful. This also means that to survive in such a society, you have to be willing to exploit those below you in the social hierarchy. There's no benefit in building things, because they'll just be consumed by those above you with little to no reward - it's more profitable to take from those beneath you.
This leads to infighting, backstabbing, and eventually the splintering of the evil society into warring factions while the infrastructure that supported the society collapses from neglect.
Good, on the other hand, is a strategic decision. By supporting the people around you, you are positioning yourself to be helped by them in the future. Good understands that a group of weak people can be powerful if they choose to unify and build a society together. Good doesn't eat its own because it understands that if one member of the group is suffering, the overall goals of the group are suffering. Good societies persist because they make the best strategic use of their most valuable resource - people - by empowering them to build a future.
Evil has no future. Just endless insatiable hunger and fear.
Beautifully written. Thanks.