Comments on: Evil vs Stupid http://www.polimom.com/2007/03/21/evil-vs-stupid/ I used to be in the middle, but they keep moving the line! Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:02:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Ed T. http://www.polimom.com/2007/03/21/evil-vs-stupid/#comment-61822 Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:46:51 +0000 http://www.polimom.com/2007/03/21/evil-vs-stupid/#comment-61822 <blockquote>...in an attempt to thwart the stated will of the people, and by trickery and deceit supplant the policy of the nation with her own political positions...</blockquote> Oops, I misspoke - meant to say "...in an attempt to substitute her own political agenda for the policy of the elected representatives of the American people..." ~EdT.

…in an attempt to thwart the stated will of the people, and by trickery and deceit supplant the policy of the nation with her own political positions…

Oops, I misspoke - meant to say “…in an attempt to substitute her own political agenda for the policy of the elected representatives of the American people…”

~EdT.

]]> by: Ed T. http://www.polimom.com/2007/03/21/evil-vs-stupid/#comment-61574 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 20:23:56 +0000 http://www.polimom.com/2007/03/21/evil-vs-stupid/#comment-61574 By, Jove, John has a point. Especially when a civil servant decides to usurp the authority granted to her, in an attempt to thwart the stated will of the people, and by trickery and deceit supplant the policy of the nation with her own political positions, it can be difficult to separate the abysmally stupid from the soulless evil. ~EdT. By, Jove, John has a point. Especially when a civil servant decides to usurp the authority granted to her, in an attempt to thwart the stated will of the people, and by trickery and deceit supplant the policy of the nation with her own political positions, it can be difficult to separate the abysmally stupid from the soulless evil.

~EdT.

]]> by: John http://www.polimom.com/2007/03/21/evil-vs-stupid/#comment-61559 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:19:00 +0000 http://www.polimom.com/2007/03/21/evil-vs-stupid/#comment-61559 Stupid can become evil, though, when the stupidity is inexcusable. For example, if you had experts warning you about the mistake you were about to make, but you ignored them; if you kicked off the reconstruction efforts by filling slots with political appointees without experience in their positions and ignored what more knowledgable people were saying; if political gain figured into your motives; etc. It is a different kind of evil than your second example, but I don't think the stupid/evil distinction is quite so clear in the first. Stupid can become evil, though, when the stupidity is inexcusable. For example, if you had experts warning you about the mistake you were about to make, but you ignored them; if you kicked off the reconstruction efforts by filling slots with political appointees without experience in their positions and ignored what more knowledgable people were saying; if political gain figured into your motives; etc.

It is a different kind of evil than your second example, but I don’t think the stupid/evil distinction is quite so clear in the first.

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