Too Much Evil

At times it is hard to believe how utterly evil humans can be. In the normally very peaceful and tolerant country of New Zealand 50 people were killed by a white nationalist.

How does this happen? How does one become so filled with hate that they can randomly kill people they do not even know, people who range from ages 3 to 70?

I see an underlying common mental construct that leads to such evil actions. That construct is the believe that you are more important than anyone else. It is putting oneself above all others. This believe is a continuum that ranges from the petty such as knowingly cheating on your taxes, to people such as Spring committing perjury and Nelly Wince committing criminal fraud, all the way through to people who become so self-centered they believe they have the right to take the lives of anyone they choose. 

How do we fight such evil? We will never be able to totally prevent it but the rule of law was designed to minimize the negative impact of such tendencies. If laws are fair, enforced and understood it will stop people such as Spring, Nelly Wince and others who so flagrantly break it for personal gain. Yet, I am not sure what could have been done to prevent the shooter in New Zealand. Perhaps education or exposure to other cultures. Perhaps nothing could have been done. That is the most depressing thought.