The coming months will see if the democratic balance in the United States can be restored and evil averted

“What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil: envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil.” Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, 563–483 BC.

You don’t have to be a Buddhist to find this definition useful ancient though it is. Of course we can equivocate around it. Is war to counter tyranny, which involves killing your enemy evil? Are there “just wars” ? And who decides if they are “just” ? Are white lies permissible if they are kind? And so on. Arguably to describe a person, or an act or a belief as “evil” is always subjective. Perhaps evil is a correct descriptor if an overwhelming majority of people believe it to be true.

This preamble leads me to the concern that prompted the thought about evil. We live in times where there is evil all around us, and in unexpected places. Richard Nixon was a crook, but was he evil? Lyndon Johnson presided over some evil acts in South East Asia. Does this mean he was evil – I’m far from sure that it does. Murderous dictatorships aside (Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini…) isn’t evil a tad too strong a word for politicians we don’t like? You can see where I’m going…

We know the motivations of Hitler and Stalin. Totalitarian dictators hold onto power, once secured, through repression, or much much worse. Hitler gained power legitimately in 1933 having been appointed by Hindenburg, the Head of State. Within a short time he cemented that power by what we might call “executive action” and confirmed by a phoney plebiscite. The aspiring dictator became the Führer.

“Executive Action” involves (usually) Heads of Government taking action without involving elected representatives. Hitler did it by dissolving the Reichstag – or, rather, turning it into a rubber stamp assembly. President Trump is basically ignoring Congress and issuing orders which are subject to no checks and balances.

In his first ten years in power Hitler governed by decree. There was not even the semblance of a democratic process. As it stands Trump is trying to do the same. However the two houses of Congress still exist as do the Courts. Some of the Executive orders are being or will be subject to challenge.

If we look at the Buddhist definition of “evil” and apply it to Trump’s actions there’s a scary coincidence. There are lies galore. There is slander of races, individuals and whole countries. There is unquestionably abuse of power. There is endemic gossip from the President and his acolytes. There is envy and hatred and more than one false doctrine.

Lord Acton famously said “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” This was in 1887. Almost exactly one hundred years earlier the drafters of the United States Constitution unquestionably had the same thought in mind. They incorporated checks and balances in the Constitution to stop anyone, including the President, from exercising unbridled power.

The Weimar Republic arguably suffered from an excess of democracy making Germany ungovernable and leading to the rise of Hitler. America, in theory anyway, has traditionally had a balance between the Presidency, the executive, Congress and the Justice system. The coming months will see if that balance can be restored and evil averted.