Evil and suffering.

[Mudhammam]

I believe that acts of murder and rape are evil but I'm not really into labeling people "good" or "evil" except in a practical sense and in the most extreme cases of harm and destruction. For example, was Hitler evil? I'd say so. But what does that really mean? In my opinion, it means his environment and state of mind was such that brought horrendous suffering to his fellow human being. He was evil to the degree that he was responsible for those he oppressed under Nazi Germany. I wouldn't say anyone is ultimately responsible, nor would I say anyone can be in-of-themselves evil. To me "evil" or "bad" are words that describe intentions, actions, and outcomes that (even incrementally) add to human (or in some cases animal) suffering. I also agree that it's all perspective but in this instance, given that it's a perspective largely derived from objective consequences (poverty or disease or psychological oppression have measurable affects that can spread and be detrimental to us all, etc.), I think it's no less significant than my "perspective" that you people are actually real or that consciousness isn't a supercomputer simulation.