[thanatos519]

If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

-- Alexander Solzhenitsyn

[tremon]

It's a nice aphorism, but it's too defeatist to be of any use. Yes, you have acknowledged human nature. Now what?

The simple truth is that most people do not pursue evil as a goal, but are opportunistic: they take the easiest solution that won't harm them personally. If we're serious about building a better world, reducing opportunities to be evil is what we should be focusing on. Not raising our hands and acting like there's nothing to be done about it.

[jvanderbot]

You provide incentives that make the good part win out, in proportion to the temptation and reproductions of being evil.

Is that so hard? We do it with pets, children, even ourselves, (ice cream after work). But writ large we just say "Nope, they're evil, let's <extreme action>"

[jvanderbot]

*repercussions not reproductions