The Cycle of Evil In his article titled “the frivolity of evil,” Dr Dalrymple defines evil as,” the elevation of passing pleasure for oneself over the longterm misery of others to whom one owes a duty. ” Dr. Dalrymple describes how his community and the people who live there are stuck in a cycle of evil. He believes that this cycle is a side effect of Great Brittan’s transformation in to a welfare state along with our culture of entitlement. The many years of dedicated study and extensive observations, has granted Dr Dalrymple unique perspective and a deep insight regarding the human condition and their social concerns.
Using examples from his work in a prison psychiatrist hospital, we see how easily this type of evil spreads through a community like a virus until no one is unaffected. Dr. Dalrymple defines the cycle of evil, as when a person raised in an abusive household grows up to recreate the abusive environment with their own children. Now the practice of bad behavior passes down to the next generation, like a family heirloom. .According to Dr. Dalrymple “the social, economic, and ideological pressures and the parental example, make it likely that their children’s choices will be as bad as theirs. another explanation offered is that people now believe the misguided notion that unhappiness is an illness that can be cured by a doctor.
People believe that they are entitled to be happy regardless of their actions or chosen life style. Dr. Dalrymple explains that this way of thinking, “implies that one’s state of mind, or one’s mood, is or should be independent of the way that one lives one’s life, a belief that must deprive human existence of all meaning, radically disconnecting reward form conduct. By having this state of mind a patient can claim illness and the doctor can simply cure them of their ailment without ever addressing the choices that might have led to their unhappiness. The established practice of rewarding irresponsibility and bad behavior adopted by the British government is another piece of this puzzle. An unchecked welfare system not only creates an environment that allows this behavior, it offers incentives to act in this manner. Dr.
Dalrymple explains, “It is actually advantageous for a mother to put herself at a disadvantage, to be a single mother, without support from the fathers of the children and dependent on the state for income. She is then a priority; she will not pay local taxes, rent, or utility bills. ” Although, absentee parenting and the bloated social programs found in Brittan is only part of the puzzle, one more piece needed to create this perfect storm. The described evils would not be able to take hold without the current culture of helplessness and apathy that plagues our population.
Dr. Dalrymple states; “For it is necessary not only to believe that it is economically feasible to behave in the irresponsible and egotistical fashion that I have described, but also to believe that it is morally permissible to do so. And this idea has been peddled by the intellectual elite in Britain for many years, more assiduously than anywhere else, to the extent that it is now taken for granted. ” Dalrymple also believes that “the moral cowardice of the intellectual and political elites” is also to blame for the described circumstances. Intellectuals propounded the idea that man should be freed from the shackles of social convention and self-control, and the government enacted laws that promoted irresponsible behavior and created a welfare system. ” Dalrymple continues his explanation with, “While my patients know in their hearts that what they are doing is wrong, and worse than wrong, they are encouraged nevertheless to do it by the strong belief that they have the right to do it, because everything is merely a matter of choice”.
Conditions such as these create a society that lacks accountability. According to Dalrymple, society’s elite would rather see others live in poverty than admit their wrongs and Society will remain the same until they put limits on their own behavior. However, Dalrymple’s views on the root of the problem, the cycle of evil, contradict each other. Dalrymple’s states that the origins of evil are found in all of us, he describes this type of evil as “the evil that is found in the everyday actions of men.
Dalrymple goes on to explain, “There is obviously something flawed in the heart of man that he should wish to behave in this depraved fashion “According to Dalrymple it is a legacy of original sin, it is inherent. Man’s inherent self-interest will eventually end up hurting others. Therefore, as a whole, we require some form of regulation to make sure we do not destroy one another. The need for government oversight contradicts the other half of Dr Dalrymple’s reasoning that this toxic environment is a side effect of Great Britain turning in to a welfare state.
A welfare state insures social, educational, and economical equality among all Regardless of the cost to society. With having your standard of living dependent on your government you forfeit a portion of your personal liberties and with it go ones ambitions and most importantly the will to improve your surroundings and better your community for future generations. Therefore, the community would benefit from less government regulations. Dr. Dalrymple offers logical, although contradictory arguments to explain the cycle of evil but not any clear ideas on how to stop the cycle of evil and improve these circumstances for future generations.
Unfortunately, I believe the reason for this is that Dr Dalrymple holds very little, if any, hope that the community he served for 14 years could change, the social, economic, ideological, and political pressure is already much too heavy. Obviously frustrated with the never-ending cycle, Dr. Dalrymple concludes his article with the following words, ” There are pleasures, no doubt, to be had in crying in the wilderness, in being a man who thinks he has seen further and more keenly than others, but they grow fewer with time. The wilderness has lost its charms for me. I’m leaving I hope for good. ” (“Dalrymple, T”)
