A Most Instrumental Myth

Written by Erin Galvin

A tale as old as time: the never-ending fight between good and evil. Think about the first time you were introduced to this idea. Was it in a storybook? Maybe it was at church. Perhaps in your favorite superhero movie? Wherever it was, I’d be willing to bet that you were very young, and from there on out, you never stopped hearing about it.

Why is this idea so pervasive and interwoven throughout our belief system? Why are we so quick to categorize everyone and everything as “good” or “evil”? And how does this dichotomy affect us individually and collectively?

The misconception that people are either inherently good or evil has long been baked into our shared understanding of the world. This has been manufactured with intent and permeates our minds through the influences of our institutions. Some of the most notable driving forces are religion, entertainment, status, politics, and even the ideology of eugenics.

But at its core, the belief in good versus evil is founded in fear. And there’s a very specific reason for that: humans are conditioned easiest by fear. We are best controlled when there is a perceived threat, real or not. 

Without necessarily recognizing this, we subconsciously assign labels based on our preconceived notions of what defines “good” and what defines “evil.” In this sense, "good and evil" is a social construct that differs depending on who you ask. But institutionally, it’s a tool used by the ruling class to keep us divided and controlled.

Whether it’s conditioning people to believe that they’re “better” than others based on arbitrary factors, such as gender, race, or socioeconomic status, or garnering support for war by manipulating populations to fear the “evil” other, this tool of division has proven itself to be extraordinarily effective. 

And this is why good versus evil is constantly reinforced throughout our society. 

We see it throughout various religions. Fear of judgment, as being good or evil once life comes to an end, by a higher entity is a shared unease globally. Religion has long played a role in shaping our behaviors, even if we don’t practice or believe in God or the Devil. It’s an inescapable influence that inevitably affects each of us. 

We see it in our entertainment with endless Superhero franchises (it should come as no surprise that the MCU has been known to work directly with the DOD), glorified war stories in films and series, and repeated news reports splashed across the mainstream media. There is always a “bad guy” to fear and a “good guy” who swoops in to save the day. 

It’s reinforced by our “status” in society. If you’re someone who has checked all the boxes in life, has financial success, and is viewed as an upstanding citizen, you’re typically viewed as “good.” This has nothing to do with your character or who you really are deep down and everything to do with how we’ve been conditioned to define what is “good.”

If you’re someone who is considered to be an expert, or in a position of power and authority, that status often goes from “good” to “trusted” in the eyes of most. You’ve climbed the ladder of society, attained the "American Dream", and have experienced great success. It doesn’t really matter what you actually did to attain that position, because your status is what society values.

And what society values is placed on a pedestal. 

On the other hand, if you’re struggling financially, incapable of holding down reliable work, or battling addiction, your status in society drops significantly. Your battles aren’t empathized with and your failures are always your own. It doesn’t matter that the system has worked against you or that you’ve experienced immense difficulties, because your status is what society values.

And what society loathes is “personal failure.” 

It doesn’t really matter that you have far more in common with a person forced to live on the street than you do with a billionaire with twelve houses. We’re conditioned to label people based on factors that have absolutely nothing to do with who they are as a human. We tend to blame each other, instead of the system that is responsible for our struggles and the ruling class that maintains it.

We see the ideology of good versus evil throughout all of politics. It is one of the most effective forms of propaganda. There is a “good guys” versus “bad guys” thread that ties all campaign slogans together. An “either you’re with us or you’re with them” mentality that permeates the subconscious of the masses. 

How else would the ruling class garner support for forever wars and genocide? The very first step in successfully beating the drums of war is dehumanization. You must fear the “bad guys” who are a threat to you and your family. You must support the “good guys” who will protect your way of life. 

How else would the ruling class inspire patriotism in a dying empire? How would they persuade you to fight for a country that’s slowly killing you? How would they successfully get you to turn a blind eye to mass murder executed in your name?

How would they get you to continue to vote into a system that never works for you? How would they keep you hating your neighbors, instead of uniting with them? How would they successfully keep you divided if they weren’t keeping you in a constant state of fear? 

Manufacturing competition amongst people fighting to survive (who are all being oppressed) drives them to blame their peers for frustrations created in society by the ruling class. Instead of fighting back against those who actually have power over our lives, we fight one another. We see the poor immigrant as the “bad guy” and the politician who wants to protect the borders as the “good guy.” The politician demanding medical interventions for your body is framed as the "good guy" while the one advocating for your liberty is framed as the "bad guy". 

Instead of recognizing that we are all losing more power, access to resources, and freedoms, we blame our shared despair on our neighbors. We look down on some of the most vulnerable people in our society and believe we’re not in their position because we are inherently better than them. We slowly and silently lose our empathy. 

And our connection to reality. 

When we forego critical thinking for binary thinking, we step further and further away from reality. There is no inherent good or evil in human beings. In fact, we are born a blank slate. Our species adapts to its environment for survival, and we are products of that environment. Our environment is manufactured at the top through our institutions by a psychopathic, genocidal, insane ruling class who have lost their humanity to power. 

Our society is the outcome of human conditioning, not human nature.

Instead of recognizing the power we hold within ourselves and collectively, we look to those “good guys” in positions of great power to swoop in and save us. We pledge allegiance to the very people who are oppressing us. We place all of our hope in them, instead of ourselves. 

But we can change course. We are an extremely resilient species; we just need to realize it. 

We need to recognize that we are easily conditioned. It doesn’t make us weak or stupid. It makes us human. We need to accept this reality in order to move forward. Billions and billions of dollars and resources go into our conditioning. We are constantly manipulated to go against our own best interests. But once we realize this, we can begin to combat it. 

We need to stop allowing fear to separate us. Collaboration will always be more powerful than competition. If we unify and support one another, we will gain power back together. 

And most importantly, we need to stop trusting the ruling class. They maintain their power by keeping us ignorant of our role in it. They can only maintain their dominance through our continued consent and participation in the system. When we vote and support this system, we solidify our own oppression. 

Once we refuse to participate, they will lose power and we will gain it. The only “good versus evil” that exists in this world is the people versus the ruling class that subjugates, murders, and exploits us. We only need to see it and accept it as the truth. And once we do, there will be no stopping us. We are far too many. 

We are the heroes that we’ve been waiting for.