The Lesser Evil
Lately, I’m thinking a lot about food.
This morning I was thinking about sustainability, specifically about food that needs to be transported a long way (say, bananas from the Philippines) and how it compares to food that is otherwise inherently unsustainable (say, meat).
Then I immediately thought I’d choose the lesser evil, implicitly assuming that I had to make a choice. But I don’t.
Choosing the lesser evil looks like a sound principle, except it often leads us to false dichotomies and masks our real choices.
Sure, assuming I could only choose between bananas and meat… I wouldn’t go bananas: I’d definitely go for bananas. And maybe move to a tropical forest?
Jokes aside, what I like about thinking is the way my mind makes connections.
Case in point, it sprang to mind a colorful analogy I’ve been doing for years. And this time I finally refined it, that’s why I’m writing this down.
(Mind you, I was having breakfast while pondering all this. Which may become relevant, when you realize how much “shit” I thought about. Literally!)
It’s about voting. Imagine having to choose about several glasses full of shit. I’d try and pick the one with less shit in it, but it’s still a shitty beverage.
That’s why voting for the “least bad” political party never made much sense to me. And here’s where some people usually get outraged, but bear with me.
If I don’t like you but I tell you I do, isn’t that a blatant lie? And what is vote, if not an expression of a preference?
The fun part is many people say/think if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain. I thought it’s silly, much like saying if you don’t cook you can’t tell good food. Or if you don’t do art you have no right to like music or whatever.
Thankfully, at some point George Carlin articulated it perfectly for me:
If you vote and you elect dishonest, incompetent people and they get into office and screw everything up… well, you are responsible for what they have done. You caused the problem. You voted them in. You have no right to complain.
(Look him up if you don’t know him, he’s both hilarious and thought provoking.)
But now let’s get practical: someone’s got to run the country, right?
A part of me would really like to challenge even that assumption, but I’ll keep that at bay. Let’s assume that’s the only possible way of doing things, ever.
Wouldn’t you want to have a say on who rules and may make laws that affect you personally, since you too live in this country?
This looks like a sensible question. When people try to make a logical argument, they usually ask something along those lines. And it does have a logic, indeed: if you did vote for A, but then B gets elected… now you do get to complain.
The way I see it, there’s a small and a big issue here.
The big issue is (obviously) how to rule the best possible way. Come to think of it, I have already tackled this over two years ago in a note on power and love.
The small issue is what’s in it for me: this tax or that tax, this shit or that shit. This peanut or that one. Breadcrumbs, while the bread loaf is hidden away.
Which brings us to another problem: this all looks like a big illusion to me.
Granted, the political situation of my country will somehow affect me. But so do many other things that are outside my circle of control.
As an example, US government clearly affects the rest of the world too. Luckily, we don’t have to get sucked into the Republicans versus Democrats bullshit.
On a lighter note, Elon Musk writing me a check of $1 million would also affect me. No shit, right? But yeah, I can’t control his mind. How unfortunate!
Also: I strongly oppose any kind of war, dictatorship, censorship, surveillance, and similar suppressions of personal freedom. It deeply upsets me to look at all the needless suffering that is going on right now in the world, for absolutely no good reason. It makes me sick. But what can I do about it?
I wish I had a magic wand that could remove greed and hatred from people’s hearts, putting in kindness and compassion instead. I wish!
With a massive amount dedication, activism can achieve outstanding results on a specific issue (think Gandhi). But anything we may do individually will never be enough to fix everything, for all the shit that goes on anywhere anytime.
We can only lead by example, and that’s what I strive for.
I’m sorry if the last few paragraphs made you feel worried or sad. I didn’t mean to. On the contrary, I want to stress that personal wellbeing is our own choice.
I don’t have control over getting sick, but I do have control over my lifestyle. If I ate only bananas, I’d probably be more sustainable than if I ate only meat. And I’d definitely be way more sustainable if I moved to that tropical forest!
I also don’t have much control over who will rule the country. Except, nothing would really change even if I voted. That’s just how society works (or doesn’t).
Ultimately, it seems to boil down to whether one thinks political elections (and puppet shows) belong to the circle of concern or to the circle of influence.
I can’t tell for sure where it belongs. It may even be just on the edge, but that’s still much too far out for me to go there.
I’d rather heed the Stoics on this matter, and just care about my circle of control first. I’ve got my own shit to get together.
(Bonus track: Get Your Shit Together! Guess I’ll finally take my backpack, now. 🎒️)