A bad person is someone who makes the world a worse place. Usually, it doesn't really count if they're not doing it on purpose -- then they're just being foolish, or wrong, or insane.
It's easier to be bad if people think you're civilized, because they hold you to a much higher standard and put themselves more at risk of being hurt by you, but that doesn't mean uncivilized people couldn't be bad too. Per capita, it's probably more likely.
"monsters with important redeeming qualities that are not apparently connected to the reasons they do horrible things."
This class could be more easily replaced by someone with the important redeeming qualities who wasn't also a monster, so there's less need to keep them around from a practical standpoint. But it might still be worthwhile -- you just have to make sure that they're kept under control. Exiled instead of executed, maybe.
If they're going to do the same horrible things again later, you can't just charge it to their account and forgive them. You have to take steps to prevent it to avoid being culpable. If you think you might need them later, you can avoid steps that would prevent getting their help later.
If the things aren't *that* horrible, well, maybe you *can* charge it to their account. Like, if they're a thief, you can pay off the people they stole from and literally, you know, charge them. c.c So the dilemma is only when they break things that you can't fix.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-04-27 04:36 pm (UTC)Inefficiency? }:P Just kidding.
A bad person is someone who makes the world a worse place. Usually, it doesn't really count if they're not doing it on purpose -- then they're just being foolish, or wrong, or insane.
It's easier to be bad if people think you're civilized, because they hold you to a much higher standard and put themselves more at risk of being hurt by you, but that doesn't mean uncivilized people couldn't be bad too. Per capita, it's probably more likely.
"monsters with important redeeming qualities that are not apparently connected to the reasons they do horrible things."
This class could be more easily replaced by someone with the important redeeming qualities who wasn't also a monster, so there's less need to keep them around from a practical standpoint. But it might still be worthwhile -- you just have to make sure that they're kept under control. Exiled instead of executed, maybe.
If they're going to do the same horrible things again later, you can't just charge it to their account and forgive them. You have to take steps to prevent it to avoid being culpable. If you think you might need them later, you can avoid steps that would prevent getting their help later.
If the things aren't *that* horrible, well, maybe you *can* charge it to their account. Like, if they're a thief, you can pay off the people they stole from and literally, you know, charge them. c.c So the dilemma is only when they break things that you can't fix.