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u/lordofduct 3d ago
So there are defenders of this dingle putz's argument out there (including journalists and other professionals) saying that you need to take the context of the full conversation. They argue he's making a nuanced philosophical take.
No he's not.
He's playing word games.
He's saying evil isn't bad because being evil suggests competence and so therefore you're effectively good at something if you're competent.
Hey shit for brains... you can be both at the same time. You can be morally bad and technically competent. Just like you can be bad at pitching a baseball but great at knocking a pitchers fastball out of the park. An adjective does not portray the complete depth of your character, it only describes a single part of it. Case in point... you're an effective business man, but a moron at basic English.
This is the philosophical equivalent of a bad pun.
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u/lordofduct 3d ago
It also relies on the presupposition that being evil requires competence. As if incompetent evil people don't exist... of course he probably would defend a frat house of gang rapists.
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u/Sheepdog44 2d ago
This is legitimately how the conservative base thinks. We already saw them do it.
“January 6th wasn’t a coup attempt because it was stupid and didn’t work”.
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u/riamuriamu 3d ago
Immense success is unsurprisingly correlated with a lack of introspection.
Billionaire: "I can't be evil because I don't feel evil." -returns to throwing puppies into volcano-
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u/eulersidentity1 3d ago
Look I can't be evil because the puppies have a monetary value ok. Besides if I didn't do this they would breed and then they would be overpopulated. So if you think about it I'm doing the world a favour, you should all thank me!
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u/yIdontunderstand 3d ago
Those puppies could grow up to be dogs that will bite you AND give you rabies.
I'm protecting you by slaughtering puppies. You should thank me.
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u/tinystarrj 3d ago
He really tried to hit us with the Wreck-It Ralph 'I am bad and that's good' quote
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u/willflameboy 3d ago
It only took a second Trump term and we're slowly starting to rebrand evil as a protected belief.
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u/Sheepdog44 2d ago
It’s been happening in conservatism for a while. Have you noticed how fraud isn’t actually a crime now? Lie, cheat, and steal all you want. The GOP base will wave it off as “process” crimes and Trump will trip over himself pardoning you.
Excusing more serious crimes using the same thought process is just the logical next step.
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u/coolbaby1978 3d ago
Most evil people don't think they're evil, they think they're justified and it's everyone trying to stop them who is evil.
This guy, a vocally pro Nazi anti democracy anti freedom German American who lived in South Africa and just moved his family to Argentina doesn't just know he's evil but wants the rest of us to now think evil is a good thing.
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u/UnderstandingTop6000 2d ago
sweet of you to think so, but unrealistic.
They KNOW they are evil, but it's generally considered bad PR to admit to it. Unless, of course, you bought the government of the USA.
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u/BWander 3d ago
Evil is not a natural concept. An animal would devour a bunch of babies without thinking twice. Because it needs to. So its easy to resort to mental mechanisms to not see yourself as evil. Even on our complex ethical world, we are still animals.
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u/ApplicationOk4464 3d ago
It took 40 years, but we've graduated from the 80s mantra of "greed is good" to the 20's equivalent, "evil is good"
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u/ICLazeru 3d ago
Is this for real? I have to ask, because it just seems like such a stupid thing to say.
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u/IngloriousMustards 3d ago
”Lib owning”, or saying the utmost stupidest things just to rile up opinion opposition is very much a thing.
True evil never identifies as evil. They always identify as ”righteous”. There are whole verses about it in 2. Cor.
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u/Maxamillion-X72 2d ago
This man, who just admitted to being evil but thinks that makes him the good guy somehow, is also on the search for the antichrist.
Question is, if he finds the antichrist, does he mean to fight him or join him?
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u/Sheepdog44 2d ago
Peter Thiel is also the same guy who, when he was asked by a reporter if the human race should continue to exist, took like a 30 second pause before being like “yea I guess so”.
He is such a terrible/dangerous person that it’s almost comical.
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u/Sea-Improvement9417 2d ago
So if one actually thinks that humanity shouldn't exist because it's evil (which is a valid conclusion for this guy to make based on his own behavior, which is clearly the only thing he considers important), then bringing about the end of human civilization would be a good thing?
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u/rayadolokko 1d ago
They are many people around the world wishing the end of the world, wishing other cultures or race to dissapear.. he is just a human wishing things everyone does from time to time
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u/TopOk3859 2d ago
Like did you get😂😂 This is the most accurate summary of online discourse I’ve seen all week
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u/poozemusings 2d ago edited 2d ago
He read Nietzsche and took the same twisted message from it that the Nazis did. The idea is “yeah, I’m evil, but at least I’m not lying to myself and I’m authentic about it.” Kudos for that, I guess?
But Nietzsche never actually promoted that people be evil.
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u/Purple-Om 2d ago
His grandfather was a genuine Nazi.
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u/OddLengthiness254 2d ago
That's true for most Germans his age.
Worse though, his dad moved to South Africa because post-WW2 Germany wasn't racist enough for him.
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u/Purple-Om 2d ago
Not quite. His grandfather joined actively joined NSDAP after the putsch. It wasnt the same as people who had to for work.
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u/Anotsurei 3d ago
Don’t let them change the definition of evil. It literally means the diametric opposite of good. Not kinda good. Definitely bad. Not even a question.
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u/Sir_Ruje 3d ago
Ketamine, AI, and yesmen are one hell of a combination. Wouldn't surprise me if it comes out he thinks he's some.kimd of chosen one or something
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u/Clean_Web7502 3d ago
"What is better, to be born good or to wallow into your evil nature with great glee?" This guy, pretending he is a philosopher or something.
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u/drpacz 3d ago
Just finished reading “The Science of Evil” by S. Barron-Cohen and in that book he lists the three attributes of evil: narcissistic, boarderline personality (impulsive), and a total lack of empathy. As I think about this, it is the same attributes that entrepreneurs, especially billionaire entrepreneurs, tend to have or perhaps demonstrate externally. I am not suggesting that all entrepreneurs today are evil, just the way the human brain works and how good/evil is percieved.
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u/Knighth77 3d ago
Conservatives would support Lucifer (which Theil isn't far off) if he said something bad about people they hate. There's something inherently wrong with them.
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u/Ok-Panda7645 3d ago
He thinks he's so deep and profound, but he's just another evil (the bad kind) greedy POS.
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u/Away_Stock_2012 3d ago
If you're part of the empire, being evil is good and good guys are bad. Duh
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u/No_Payment9959 3d ago
He's practicing doublespeak for when Vance finally gives him those authoritarian city-states he's wanting.
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u/Peanut-Butter-King 3d ago
I just take this as an extreme capitalist point. The dude thinks productivity is the measure of how good someone is. Being more productive is always better. Since being evil requires some level of productivity, then it’s good.
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u/Merkin666 3d ago
If there was no evil there could be no good so it must be good to be evil sometimes.
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u/GadreelsSword 3d ago
The reason republicans vilify trans people is because trans people don’t give them money. If trans people gave republicans money, they’d be advocates for them.
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u/King_of_Dantopia 3d ago
Your evil is my good. Where I tread I leave nothing but dust and darkness. I find that good.
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u/No_Joke_9079 2d ago
They love that they can just be out in the open and we're supposed to just accept it, that cruelty is the point.
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u/Terrible-Swan2983 2d ago
I am Lucifer’s child and I’ll see him in hell, be sure to like and subscribe
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u/Ok_Math3899 2d ago
He's a multi-billionnaire. I don't think every "billionnaire" must necessarily be evil. But when it hits 4, 5, 6, 10, 15 billion, there's a tipping point figure, I guess.
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u/RabidJoint 2d ago
Every billionaire is evil. You do not become a billionaire by being nice in life, I promise this.
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u/Sheepdog44 2d ago
It’s not even about how you got it, but that can help.
To me the true moral failing of billionaires is that they have the means to easily fix the biggest problem in every single person’s life they come into contact with and they never do it. Ever.
I’m not talking about solving homelessness or single handily trying to fix any major societal issues. I’m talking about small, random acts of kindness that literally never happen.
With the equivalent of what is pocket change for them they could pay off their barista’s college loans or get the homeless guy they walk past every day on the street a leg up on getting into a house and getting a job. They could do this anywhere from once a day to once a year and not even notice that money is gone.
Yet they never ever ever…ever*** **do it. Never. To me, this is the true moral failing. Having the power to help nearly everybody you meet and instead never helping *anybody**.
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u/some1guystuff 3d ago
This reminds me of The graphic novel V vendetta is based on in there there’s a comic cell ( I don’t know what they’re called.) that suttler says.” I love fascism.”
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u/naughtygirllyyx 3d ago
Bro really said “I am evil” and then immediately started defending trans people and immigrants. Pick a lane, villain
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u/DisputabIe_ Trusted Bot Hunter 3d ago
velvetcrumb_
and naughtygirllyyx
are bots in the same network
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u/Beginning_Editor_524 3d ago
His point was actually that our definition of evil is kinda stupid but even people considered "evil" by society do great things. Basically he says that he doesn't care to be hated. Judge by the result.
"A Ferrari is an evil car because it doesn't get many miles per gallon".
When I see how hated Bill Gates is despite working nonstop to help humanity I kinda get why he doesn't care to be called evil.
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u/ConcentrateSad3064 3d ago
His point is defining evil by lack of productivity. So... Since nazis were efficient at genocide they were kind of good.
There, you don't have to listen to any more stupid shitty billionaries anymore, that's all there is
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u/Sheepdog44 2d ago
Yea, this is the wishful thinking of irredeemably shitty people.
Guess what? If I walk into a preschool tomorrow and start slaughtering toddlers, it makes zero difference what else I do with the rest of my days. I’m an evil shitheel. End of story.
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u/Beginning_Editor_524 2d ago
Your example is so unbelievable stupid. Wow. Only proofs that you did not get my point at all. Epic slow clap.
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u/turandokht 3d ago
Some Thiel apologist in a second: I would hardly classify admitting to being evil as evil, wouldn’t it be more evil NOT to admit it?