Evil exists, but rarely is it inherent. Rather, it is born from the compounding of events and actions of many people over time. When you consider most of the acts we would consider being evil, they are little more than acts of a desperate and tormented mind. A mother who shakes her baby to death does not do so from some deep, inherent evil that lives inside her. No, she does so because the environment she has lived through has broken her; her natural state of being has been disrupted by the intensity of this unnatural world we live in.

A 19-year-old boy does not break his way into a house armed with the intention of stealing another’s valuables and attacking the residence because he is evil. He does so through desperation. He does so because his experiences have led him to believe ‘there is no other way’.

Evil exists, but it is not imprinted on the soul of a new life. There is no configuration of the DNA that condemns the host to a life of evil doings.

So, you may be asking…. What has any of this got to do with peace and anarchy?

Well, it’s simple. When we trace evil back to its source, particularly in the modern world, it more often than not comes down to the environment experienced by the perpetrator(s). And these damaging and often deadly environments are a consequence of the state.

So, is the state evil?

It certainly generates most of the evil we see in the World today. The global power structures combined cause suffering, pain and death all over the world at unimaginable levels, by design or as an unintended consequence. This doesn’t mean all those who work for the state are evil however, but their misguided and flawed belief in the state driving them to work for the state, does make up the significant part of the evil.

In order for the state to hold any power, they must have the support of the majority of people within its borders, as well as a portion of the combined income generated by the population – without both of these, they are powerless, little more than a preacher at speakers’ corner. So, are those that support the state responsible for the evil doings of the state? Indeed, they are. But once again, they are not evil. But without the combined support and funding of the majority, there would be no armies of killing machines pillaging the World.

I don’t believe we can eradicate relative poverty, suffering or even all evil acts, nor do I think we should. Utopians and socialists alike may disagree, but they are wrong. In order to ensure equality, we require an authority to manage it. But also, equality of life, regardless of effort, quickly stagnates any form of innovation. Indeed, equal opportunity should be hailed as the goal for any society, but even this is not as simple as it seems.

Rules for thee, not for me

In my early adult years, I understood the many terrible things that were happening around the World. I saw the wars, the poverty, the millions of starving children on charity campaigns (who didn’t see that?). At the time I looked to the government to fix this. Surely this was the only way we stood a chance in making the world a better place for all. As far as my education had told me, the government was chosen by us, the people, and they worked for us. They had the power to make a difference. So, for a time I followed politics, I even voted (just twice, I promise!).

It wasn’t long however, before I began to question the validity of my perception surrounding the state, and their purpose. Then came 9/11, then came this, the icing on the cake, the live stream assassination of Saddam Hussein on the UK’s 6pm prime time news. A public hanging broadcast live into every household in the UK and the rest of the World, while the kids eat their dinner. Seriously, why is this little fact still not making headlines today? It was a primitive hideous act of collective evil, an act which our government celebrated, one which the media celebrated, one that even many households applauded.

If 9/11 hadn’t already stirred up a few questions, surely a public hanging on live television did, an event that was celebrated and fawned upon as triumph and victory, surely it wasn’t just me who felt like they’d been banged over the head and thrown into the twilight zone head first?

So, who was Saddam Hussein? He was a tyrant, a dictator, an evil man who must be removed from power!

Was he, maybe, but even then, was a public hanging for all to see at prime time the response of a healthier and just society?

For those interested, I wrote about Saddam Hussein’s rise to power in an article many moons ago; it is well worth a read. As you’d expect, nothing was as it seems and while a tyrant he may have been, his position of power was all thanks to the CIA. Saddam Hussein was a CIA asset.

The CIA placed Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party in power in 1963. Our politicians were complicit in the birth of this regime through an unconstitutional act of foreign aggression.

In the late 1970’s President Carter encouraged Hussein to invade Iran, hoping the secular Hussein would remove the Islamic regime there.

One consequence of this invasion, aside from hundreds of thousands of deaths, was the brutal suppression of Iraq’s non-Ba’athist political groups. US politicians didn’t protest these violations of human rights because Hussein was working for the US.

President Reagan continued Carter’s pro-Hussein policy.

George W Bush called for the people of Iraq to rise up and overthrow the dictator. That message was repeatedly broadcast across Iraq. It was also contained in millions of leaflets dropped by the U.S. Air Force. Eager to end decades of repression, the Shiites arose.

Their revolt spread like wildfire; in the north, the Kurds also rose up. Key Iraqi army units joined in. It looked as if Saddam’s days were over. The likeliness of Bush’s reasons for this being down to moral humanitarian reasons is highly unlikely, but to keep this simple and avoid speculative information we go with it…

However, George W Bush then panicked and blew the whistle. What he intended was a simple takedown of Saddam Hussein by Iraqi rebels, a coup and a chosen leader put in his place to continue to look after US interests, this clearly was not what happened.

So not only did Bush back down, he turned his back on the Iraqi people and aided Saddam to gain back control. Because of these decisions by Bush thousands of lives were lost in the power struggle.

Hussein’s army crushed the rebels while US jets flew overhead. The US had the ability to stop Hussein slaughtering thousands of rebels but ordered the military not to intervene. [source]

‘A Wolf coming to the party as a Wolf is far less dangerous than a Wolf dressed as a sheep.’

Saddam was a wolf for all to see, but he was also a pawn in the greater game. He was just another tool to be used by the more powerful people than him.

When we look in on parliamentary meetings at Westminster, all suited up, nodding and grunting and talking in their ridiculous pompous ways, we see just that, over privileged pompous politicians bumbling on. We even accept they lie at every given chance, but rarely do we associate them with the many evil consequences that are to follow based on the decisions they make. True it is, they are also pawns in a much larger game, like the people are the pawns of the government, politicians are the pawns of those above them. But people don’t see it, we see useless governments, yes; we see lying fools who are clearly detached from reality, for sure, but propagators of evil? Not so much, certainly not to the degree Saddam Hussein was.

Government is the middle-man between us and those truly running the show. The idea of democracy ensures the people feel they are in control of who governs, while taking on all accountability of all the terrible deeds their chosen masters may do over their term, after all, we picked them!

From an early age, we are all indoctrinated to believe that a society must have rules to keep order. We are quickly brainwashed into compliance and before long we are slaves to the rules laid out before us, regardless of their moral legitimacy. ‘For good or bad, the rules must be followed!’

Only when you begin to understand that these rules are not for the betterment of humanity and that those that preach and enforce the rules with violence if required, do not abide by this same set of rules themselves does the veil begin to fall away. You soon understand it’s all a scam, one giant ugly SCAM!

F$%k You I won’t Do What You Tell Me……

I will not be told what to do. I am free to do what I see fit. If this somehow infringes on rules laid down by the government, then so be it. I am a peaceful being and believe my moral code to be well aligned with the natural order of the planet and the greater universe beyond. Any so-called rule I may break is done so without guilt.

Now, I know the argument against this all too well, “If everyone just ignored the rules and did what they wanted, there would be chaos, there would be anarchy!”. But rules do not change the morals and quality of one’s soul, in fact the rules and the system that created them is often the taint in so many dark hearts. The term anarchy has nothing to do with chaos, it simply means ‘absence of government’, any association of chaos, violence and disorder with the term is little more than a speculative assumption on the consequences of having no government.

In reality, anarchists are peaceful people who want to live their life peacefully and free. And, more often than not it is the violence and chaos governments around the world have created that drive people to an anarchist mindset. Some call it an ideology, I don’t, because it isn’t. It isn’t a set of beliefs as such, it is a state of mind. Anarchism is a way of life, it is the disconnect from the state and move to following natural law, rather than the laws made by highly corrupt entities. Anarchism is about equal opportunity and free markets. It’s about taking responsibility for yourself and your community back into your own hands, for better or worse.

There is this common belief that Anarchism cannot work because “we’d have psychopaths form gangs and enslave us all!” – errrm, they already did, your government is the crazy psychopaths we are warned of!

Many people like to scoff at the failures and imperfections within Anarchist communities, but these people misunderstand Anarchy – no community can be without imperfections, nor should it be. Anarchism is not an attempt at utopia, it is an attempt to live outside and without need of the state control-based system that has been built up around us. It is about taking responsibility for one’s self and the communities we live in. Anarchism is about peace, it is about freedom, it is about voluntary participation and moral law.

Peace, Love & Anarchy!