Kevorkian’s Third Law is Announced

Now, it is time to reveal Kevorkian’s Third Law: "All Evil Is Done In The Name Of Good, and The Greater The Evil, The Greater The Good Claimed For It." Most of you are repeating, "Yes, so what?" but for those who want more, I proceed.

Very few evils compare with war.  Has there ever been a leader of a country who took his country into a war with the battle-cry: "Our cause is unjust, we are in the wrong, but follow me anyway"?  No, of course not.  All wars are started by leaders with just causes, and they bring in "God is on our side," to reinforce the lie.

By the way.  Have you noticed that no longer do "leaders" lead their country into battle with the cry "Follow Me!"?  It’s always "Let’s you go do the fighting."  Napoleon was probably the last leader to lead his men into battle, and his cause, he told everyone, was "just."  But, I conclude my digression with the comment that "Bad men make war, good men die in them."

America is mired in Iraq because it had a leader–whose name will not sully this website–who lead the country into war with lies about the justness of his cause.  He did not say, "We want Iraq’s oil."  He said that Iraq was America’s enemy–with no proof needed because "God was on our side."  We all know how he and his NeoCon cohorts justified the evil done in the name of good, so no need to repeat them here.

I am sure that had there been a scribe in the Garden of Eden, he would have heard–and noted for posterity–Cain’s claim that his cause was just, before he smote Abel.

Or, on a lesser plain than war, how about the good claimed for such violations of people’s freedom ascensorship, government-sanctioned wire-tapping and eavesdropping on e-mails and telephone calls, President-sanctioned torture, restrictions on air-travelers, etc.?  All done "for your sake," "to  protect you," "for your good."  Has anyone ever countered with, "If it’s for my good, don’t do it, because I absolve you of all guilt if something happens to me"?  I did, once, and I would probably be trying to write this from a prison cell, had not a friend pulled me away quickly.

Or, to touch on the economic crisis that has almost crippled America (and some other countries, as well).  The country was told that getting rid of all regulations was good, that crippling those regulations that could not be removed from the books was good, and ignoring those left on the books was good.  The country was told, and the Congress duly agreed, that reducing the taxes of the multi-billionaires was good, because some of their money would trickle down to the peasants and peons.  Hands up, all of you who benefited from the money that trickled down from the tables of the multi-billionaires!  But, the actions of the government were for the good of the country, we were told.

Of course, there were those who were saying the opposite, but they were ignored and silenced.  Even the whistle-blower who tried to tell the Securities and Exchange Commission that Bernard Madoff was a fraud was ignored.  

By now, you get the picture.  Certainly, the greatest evil in the name of good is from governments; it is so because governments have the authority and the power. Yet, Kevorkian’s Third Law applies wherever someone or some entity wants to domineer over the life of another person or entity.

Anyone who has a smattering of history knows that it was ever thus and, alas, thus will ever be.

Those of you who have been following what passes for my thinking will realize that these three Laws are related, and the common thread is "The Lie."  Accept–or otherwise do not fight–the lie and do not be surprised what is done to you and in your name “for your own good.”

Oh, by the way, you will be pleased to learn that Kevorkian’s Third Law has an anthem: "Sood eh, sood eh, amenpan sood eh.  Ayse ashkaree metch, amenpan sood eh."