Dear Friends,
It seems to me, to exploit tragedy for personal gain is callous, to create a tragedy so one can exploit it… is downright evil. Those who are so dead inside they are willing to create the conditions where tragedy is impossible to avoid, know that most people don’t look beyond last cause, certainly not following the chain of causality back to the primary cause. As such they believe their actions can go unreported and unknown. Of course some will point to the primary cause. Those diabolical people who created the tragedy to begin with, have only to claim anyone who is rightly pointing at the primary cause, or first cause, are conspiracy theorists, and the fiction the connivers are peddling can go on, while those who point at their malevolence are marginalized as cooks. Much evil in our world has been implemented in just this manner. As rational maximisers, we have to be aware that such manipulation exists and look beyond last cause to the primary cause, before we lay blame.
Causality is always a chain of events. If a building collapses, we can look at the rotten support that failed, as the last cause, or we can look at what made the member rot in the first place, the first or primary cause. A conniver might claim the primary cause was the building design was faulty to begin with, ignoring the fact it stood decades or perhaps centuries, before the rotten timber gave and the building collapsed. If all we look at is the rotten timber we miss the root cause of the collapse, namely, whatever rotted the timber in the first place. Someone who is intent on manipulating us to their own selfish ends loves this lazy tendency of humanity. They can create the conditions where a structural collapse is inevitable, say poking a hole strategically over a vulnerable timber, then when the collapse happens, demand they be given autocratic power to oversee all buildings or redesign them, “for our own good.” Few will look to the source of the leak and so their conniving will pay dividends.
If we as a people stopped falling for the conniving of evil people, instead punishing them for creating the conditions where human suffering is inevitable, the scheming would stop. Sociopathic individuals operate on a strictly egoistic basis. They care nothing for the suffering of others, and are all too willing to create suffering to benefit themselves, if instead their self interest was severely damaged, they would not engage in it in the first place. In some cases the conniver is a psychopath, and enjoys watching the suffering they inflict on mankind, that they benefit is a bonus to them. In both cases if we look only at where they point we will always be looking in the wrong place and in both cases punishing the conniver would yield benefits for humanity.
Anyone who says or believes, “Never let a tragedy go to waste,” is someone who should never be let anywhere near the reigns of power. By their very admission they are at the least callous individuals and at worst they are evil connivers. If we examine their actions and find that such actions led directly or indirectly to a tragedy, or a host of tragedies, it is clear they are sociopaths or even possibly psychopaths. To allow a psychopath or sociopath access to power is the absolute acme of stupidity. Moreover turning a blind eye to their conniving is not merely stupid but abets the crime. We owe it to our children to root out such nefarious, evil, egoistic people, from government else we and our children must suffer from our indifference, aid and willful ignorance. Always look beyond where the connivers are pointing, instead look to primary causes, did they create conditions where this tragedy is inevitable, if so them why, then act accordingly.
Crime requires a means and motive. If someone tells you they are going to kill you and rape your daughter, you don’t buy them the house next door, in hopes they will see that you are open minded and therefore befriend you, that would be idiotic. If your other neighbor buys them that house and helps them move in… when you are killed and your daughter is raped, it is as much the fault of that malevolent neighbor as the actual murderer and rapist. The conniving neighbor provided the means for the crime knowing the motive was there. When government does the exact same thing, then claims that to “protect you” they need to disarm you, force you to shut up, subject you to intrusive monitoring, while at the same time refusing to identify the criminal, you can be assured those in government are malevolent connivers intent on using human suffering to forward their agenda. The ends do not justify the means, no matter the ends, and especially where the ends and means are evil.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
