Hey Felix, How come...

[Salty]

...no one's laughing?

It scares me because I've been led to believe that evil had this cackling, maniacal laugh, that evil took pleasure in what it does. This belief must have been born of a childhood in front of the television, I'm fairly certain. Where else did it come from? My peers? Where would they have gotten it from? Their parents? No. Well, yes, but the source is the same for all of them: The TEEVEE.

And what has that Great God of Legitimacy told THEM about evil?

Evil laughs as it pulls the switch that rains doom upon humanity. It takes PLEASURE in hurting others. God damn, this is such an obvious lie. You can see that just by looking into the face of your neighbors and co-workers. Your family. Hell, you might just get a glimpse of it in your god-damned mirror. I pretty sure I've seen it in mine.*

Seems to me evil tends to have the slow, passive, well-oiled movements of the professional who takes no pleasure in their work but gets the job done. Like the serene no-face of a good undertaker, only without the good taste to wait until their client has passed before getting to work.

The bareness of an executive's personality and imagination. The callousness and total lack of sympathy, empathy or any other emotion of a health care professional. The slick, glittering confidence of a Ford salesman. The anti-septic Adherence to Policy that is the insurance industry.

In fact, that seems to be the most popular theme: Clean. A place for everyone and everything, and, well you know.

And that's not the worst. Nope.

The worst is that blank, glazed, uninterested stare of The Apathetic Youth. It's the worst because they didn't choose that stare, they did nothing to earn it. They've inherited it. They were born into it.

So I'm scared, because NO ONE is laughing. And that can't be good.


*Actually, the only reflection I've seen it in has been those shed by the people around me. It seems I fit their sense of it just fine.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

...no one's laughing?

It scares me because I've been led to believe that evil had this cackling, maniacal laugh, that evil took pleasure in what it does.

No, Evil has this really reasonable voice, and usually dresses very well.

And when Evil speaks, it says things like "There is no actual evidence linking our dioxin plant to the rash of unexplained childhood deaths in the area", and "We had to destroy the village to save it", or "teach the controversy". 

And Evil probably regrets all the unfortunate things that people make it do, in it's drive to ensure that we are all safe, physically, morally, and racially...Dick Cheney being the notable exception.  That fucker LIKES what he does.  The rest?  Banality, regulation, and of course the "sanctity of marriage".

Evil, in the end, isn't just harmful, it's boring.

[Jasper]

That's just it. Evil is mostly just people doing what they're told, going with the flow, maintaining status quo.  A titan named Milgram once tried to show us that, and we still teach our children the things he warned us against, like compliance, passivity, rationalization, and shirking the blame to the ones giving the orders.  Because evil really is a likable guy who wants to make the world a better place.  It may sound glib being a Pratchett quote, but there's nothing more dangerous than someone out to do the world a favor.  Remember that, because it's nobody's job to disobey.