Tyranny for Your Own Good — C.S. Lewis

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

— C.S. Lewis

From <- tyranny-for-your-own-good -- cs-lewis.md>

2018-08-08 Ram Dass.md (the rest of this is REALLY good personal advice, we need a uniform way to link there)

https://soundcloud.com/ramdass/3-dealing-with-anger

Righteousness It’s love, then truth. Not truth, then love.

Commentary

“More evil gets done in the name of righteousness than any other way.” - Glen Cook

More: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/righteousness

"I prefer evil/cruel men, at least they know they're evil/cruel… whereas a good/righteousness man will gladly burn the whole world down to do what he thinks is right."

Sun Tzu "An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes."

That quote captures the danger of absolute self-righteousness, where a person believes their moral certainty excuses any amount of destruction.

The Danger of Righteous Zeal

• Bounded limits: An openly malicious person usually operates out of self-interest or impulse, meaning their actions often have a ceiling or a predictable end once their immediate desires are met.
• Unbounded destruction: A person convinced they are entirely "good" or fighting for a sacred cause faces no internal limits. Because they believe God or history is on their side, collateral damage becomes an acceptable cost.

As C.S. Lewis famously observed in God in the Dock, "Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

[1]

Historical and Literary Parallels

• Fanaticism vs. Greed: Greed and cruelty can be bargained with, bribed, or exhausted. Absolute righteousness cannot negotiate because compromise feels like a betrayal of truth.
• The Banality of Evil: History shows that the most catastrophic atrocities are rarely committed by cartoonish villains, but by ordinary people acting out of bureaucratized duty and moral certainty. [1]

Good can be radical; evil can never be radical, it can only be extreme.

THINK: Be rad.

➜ rg -i righteousness
Vault/QUOTES/singles/tyranny-for-your-own-good -- cs-lewis.md
3:why: this is not just a quote, it's a scapel. Cruetly can pause. Righteousness never does.

Vault/Journal/2018-08-08 Ram Dass.md
3:Righteousness

Vault/Journal/2018-10-09 People Change.md
10:Social justice trapped in Righteousness, hot tub

Evil plots, good plans.