To state either of the following is to be incorrect, or even ignorant, to a fault: “Society is good” or “Society is evil.” One cannot simply look at every aspect in today’s developed world and call it good or evil. A more accurate way to generalize society, in the instance that one actually finds himself directed to partake in such a thorny task, would be to say that today’s world is a never-ending struggle between good and evil.
One common misconception of true evil is money. Some people say that money is the root of all evil, another fallacy with which I disagree. Money is a good thing. Money is the force that drives this world, and the power by which one must achieve any of his worldly goals. However, the belief that this force is the most important of all will lead one into believing that tangible possessions are the most valuable of all worldly concepts, commonly known as excess materialism. And truly, it is excessive materialism that is the greatest of all evils in our society.
I came to believe this (while watching cable television, ironically) when I saw Cameron Diaz on her own MTV series called ‘Trippin’.’ The general idea of ‘Trippin’’ is for obnoxious millionaires go to the poorest places on the world in their private helicopters and designer clothes and make people in developed societies feel bad about having material desires. This made me realize that complete indulgence in tangible goods is the ultimate evil of a developed society. I did not come to this conclusion because it was the message conveyed, but rather because I realized that an ignorant millionaire is the worst kind of person to be. I have thus decided that the blissful accumulation of money and material goods as an illustration of one’s status and luxury is the single greatest evil man can achieve. Such ideas have become common to our society.

How about accumulation of money and material goods just because you want to have fun? I don't give a crap about status-I just want to play!

Agreed.

People by nature are, for the lack of a better word, "evil" in of course varying degrees. Thus society is in a sense "evil" because it is populated by people.

Also agreed.

People by nature are, for the lack of a better word, "evil" in of course varying degrees. Thus society is in a sense "evil" because it is populated by people.
I've tried to argue this with various people before...They usually just get offended and angry.

Tl;dr

I do agree that money isn't exactly the root of all evil. There are many other things out there in the world that can cause evil and it doesn't have to be money. Though money at times does tempt people do do evil things.

I could barley click on this thread's name

rape...

How about accumulation of money and material goods just because you want to have fun? I don't give a crap about status-I just want to play!
Yeah, the rough draft contained something about luxury relating to materialism, but I didn't throw it in there at the end of it all. It could only be one page double spaced.

Note: I wrote this for school. The instructions were thus: "1. Type a one page paper relating an evil in our society or something good in our society or a situation where good and evil are at odds in our society." It also had to have had an impact on our life, so we had to relate a personal experience, and we had to end with a comment on how it all relates to the state of our society. I would have gone on for longer and written somewhat differently, but I had to follow these guidelines, so this is what it is.

The next sentence is true. The previous sentence is false.

I would say that the human's natural need or greed for power is the cause of evil. Thus, we have made money an icon of power, therefore people want it and are willing to do evil things, fuelled by the greed for power. This is just what it looks like to me...

I don't necessarily have an actual distinction between good and evil. For example so kid just stole my bike (actually happened). Now while it obviously wasn't a good thing and as far as I am concerned it was immoral but as I am obliged by my the laws of my people, I forgive him. Doesn't mean I am not angry and do not wish to skin him alive and use his skin as clothing and burn his name and crimes into the sky for all to see and understand. It was a cruelty of him though not an evil. I have seen evils in this world though as a whole it is a planet founded on a few basic principles. Furthering one's existence is first and foremost, then the species. Sadly self acceptance and love are lower on the food chain even though they often make everything else easier.

Self acceptance is about the most important part of one's existence.

I do not live my life by "rules" of good and evil... I live my life treating people with as much kindness as I possibly can, unless they choose to abuse it, then I treat them with instinct. I usually have a gut feeling about how I feel towards people. I have no qualms about stealing from people, or breaking the law, but I do not wish to directly make people suffer. Guilt keeps me from upsetting people to their face. I have fuck all self esteem, but my self acceptance is legendary. I can accept that I'm the freak I am, but it doesn't bother me at all...

I thought this was going to be one of those "girl" threads.

mebbe...