When bad men combine, the good must associate else they will fall, one by one, an upitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
-Edmund Burke
A quick comment:
This point is in line with my previous commentary and therefore fits to reinforce the importance of it. Why is it that there seems to be more bad than good that combine?
There are several explanations of this, none of which point in any way towards a washed out humanistic idea that people are born inherently good! In fact, the one who said man was inherently good was himself inherently evil, but most unfortunate didn’t even know it, and led himself and many multitudes into a ditch, a pit, fiery hell itself even.
The opposite theory seems to be supported here…that men are inherently evil. You may say, how is a child evil? Well, childhood is indeed a period of grace, until an age of accountability is reached. What proves inherent evil in all is the mere fact that an age of accountability exists, along with rules, punishments and consequences.
Evil is curbed by many things, laws and rules being one of many. Another is less evil things against more evil things. Or better, much less evil, or more good, than evil. But it is a myth that this “good” that is combined is equally good through and through…perhaps we should have rather made a scale based on certain principles and degrees…and said anyone 6-10 combine as good, while 1-5 are evils.
The 6 and 7’s are those that may have evil deeds at times but can be at least bearable and can be lived with. Therefore good or at least the lesser evils, combine as alliances to defeat great evils. Yet we say good combines to fight evil. If it were really that good, then they wouldn’t want to fight anyhow….
What to do with this famous saying:
Though unfortunate and perhaps disappointing to many worldviews…truth, irregardless of opinion, must be allowed to be true…and if that means we tolerate those we can tolerate, and perhaps ally those in times of crisis that we must ally with, in order for the sake of expediency resist a greater and far more terrible evil.
If this happens, we do it and then be done with it, and either go our separate ways thereafter or at least sign accords that agree to disagree and agree to unite only in times like these…and perhaps that’s what the previous quote meant anyhow…that under normal times, unlike temporary crisis, we don’t entangle...
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