How do you defeat evil and the people behind it?

I couldn't find an existing thread for this, so I’m starting my own because I’m genuinely preoccupied with it... I view this more as a psychology question than a philosophical one. Throughout my life, I've made a conscious effort to be a good person—honest, fair, someone who pursues goals through creativity and hard work, and stays kind and helpful to everyone. I try to approach everything with a positive mindset. It would all be much easier to enjoy if there weren't people in my orbit who seem hell-bent on causing harm. Generally speaking, these are individuals who thrive on destruction, constantly seeking validation by stepping on others. They just seem drawn to malice.

One such person pretended to be my friend, only to steal my boyfriend after we had been together for years. Another is my sister; when I confided my plans to her, she rushed to execute them herself just to snatch the credit. She loves nitpicking me over trivialities and belittling me to others to make herself look better. Then there was a colleague at work who swiped one of my ideas—in a workplace where we're supposed to be collaborating toward a shared goal—and took all the praise for it.

Why are some people naturally drawn to darkness, finding satisfaction in tearing things down for their own gain? How are you supposed to handle them once they've already won? What can be done as a preventative measure? Clearly, I’m attracting this kind of energy somehow; perhaps I’m trying too hard to be nice or "good," making myself an easy target for exploitation. I also don't understand why society seems to reward these types. They’re arrogant and "resourceful," knowing how to grab what they want without putting in any actual sweat or effort. Nowadays, it feels like screwing someone over has become normalized, while being decent is treated as the anomaly. Lately, I've become so guarded and disillusioned with people that I don't trust anyone, let alone want to go out. It got so bad that I actually attempted suicide because the pressure from these toxic people became suffocating. I just feel like I'm worthless and that none of my efforts matter.🤦

If this isn't just someone trolling, then I guess:

There has to be some bad out there, otherwise we wouldn't really know what good looks like. It feels like you can't have one without the other. Maybe we should just accept that possibility—that some people are going to act maliciously toward you—and then try to figure out ways to deal with those toxic types. I suppose you also have to realize that you won't always win those battles, and sometimes you'll just have to endure the unpleasantness. That's just how life works, I guess. The good things will eventually make up for the bitter taste of dealing with all that negativity, and having plenty of positive moments might make the hard times a little easier to stomach.

John Palmer9 said:If this isn't just someone trolling, then I guess:

There has to be some bad out there, otherwise we wouldn't really know what good looks like. It feels like you can't have one without the other. Maybe we should just accept that possibility—that some people are going to act maliciously toward you—and then try to figure out ways to deal with those toxic types. I suppose you also have to realize that you won't always win those battles, and sometimes you'll just have to endure the unpleasantness. That's just how life works, I guess. The good things will eventually make up for the bitter taste of dealing with all that negativity, and having plenty of positive moments might make the hard times a little easier to stomach.

No, it's not trolling; it's just curiosity, which occasionally has a habit of being painfully lethal.👎

You’re overthinking everyone else and trying way too hard to be liked by everybody. Honestly, just let the people who actually matter touch your soul with their actions and words—if they care, it counts. There's always going to be jerks out there, and the world is never gonna run the perfect way you think it should. Just adapt to reality, hang with the crew that actually gives a damn about you, and enjoy your life.

driftinghound12 said:No, it's not trolling; it's just curiosity, which occasionally has a habit of being painfully lethal.👎

Nick is an excellent choice; perfectly suited for you.

The first thing that strikes me about you is a certain lack of experience. I truly hope you grasp the implications of your socio-utopian musings, which seem to lead nowhere near a practical solution.
The real question remains: is such a society, the one you dream of, even necessary?
I suspect not. We attempted similar ideological shifts back in the 1960s here in the States, and it didn't exactly pan out, did it? Because for "good" to prevail and truly exist, it almost requires evil to be there to control it.

In circumstances like these, one must be adaptable—not like those friends of yours you keep mentioning. Every story has two sides, after all, so what we know about everything is merely your side of the tale.

Tell me, purely out of interest, what kind of guy was he when someone else managed to take him away from you??
Did you simply fail to act when the opportunity arose to snatch him up??
Did you even ask yourself that, or were you too busy obsessing over the pervasive evil in the universe?
Ultimately, let us define evil—is it the evil that happens to you, or is it the evil of a man scavenging through a dumpster??
The very same "evil" that befell you is just a standard Tuesday for someone else.
Your kindness, by some people's standards (which could arguably be justified), is seen as evil as well.
What constitutes good or evil is entirely subjective. We value different things differently, so attempting to generalize leads exactly to what you are doing—feeling utterly lost and unable to find your bearings.

But this interests me too—did your parents not attempt, during your upbringing, to present the world as a mix of good and evil rather than an idealized existence??
If they did, then why didn't they do the exact same thing with your sister?
Because it seems highly unlikely that you were both raised in such vastly different ways.

All of this points toward certain facts: you aren't nearly as "good" as you believe yourself to be—which is evidenced by the contempt, jealousy, and envy you display when writing about those around you—nor is there as much evil occurring around you as you try to distort into something tangible.

Life is much easier to endure if you try to analyze it objectively; there isn't an excess of evil or an excess of good. Everything exists in balance.

If you were actually as righteous as you claim to be, you’d probably start seeing the silver lining in all these people and situations instead of just focusing on the garbage... And honestly, if you were truly that saintly, you would've already forgiven them for being such selfish, low-character jerks in the first place.
Look, there’s no such thing as purely good or purely evil in this world. Every bad thing usually serves some greater purpose. What feels like a disaster to you might actually be a massive win for someone else—and who knows, maybe it’ll even turn out to be a blessing for you down the road... Take that guy your friend snatched away from you, for example. Like, seriously, why would you even want someone like that in your life? You get rid of a trashy friend and a guy who didn't even care about you... sounds like everyone wins in the end.

Morgan Bishop4 said:If you were actually as righteous as you claim to be, you’d probably start seeing the silver lining in all these people and situations instead of just focusing on the garbage... And honestly, if you were truly that saintly, you would've already forgiven them for being such selfish, low-character jerks in the first place.
Look, there’s no such thing as purely good or purely evil in this world. Every bad thing usually serves some greater purpose. What feels like a disaster to you might actually be a massive win for someone else—and who knows, maybe it’ll even turn out to be a blessing for you down the road... Take that guy your friend snatched away from you, for example. Like, seriously, why would you even want someone like that in your life? You get rid of a trashy friend and a guy who didn't even care about you... sounds like everyone wins in the end.

I have to say, I don't really see things that way. People can be genuinely malicious, and their actions cause real pain to those they hurt, but shouldn't the author focus on setting better boundaries or just cutting them off entirely?
Why spend all that energy overanalyzing the reasons behind someone's cruelty when you could just move on?😵

So you think you’re "good"?
Well, just be "good"—honestly, what else is there? When a woman is described as "good," we all know there are certain... subtexts involved

Just accept it—this thing you call "evil" (though frankly, I don't get why people insist on such grandiose terminology; it's all just humanity in its most banal form)

That force is older, more potent, and far wiser than anything you, as an "individual," could possibly wrap your head around

Once you grasp that, things will become clear—and life won't kick you around quite so hard

Just a word of caution: it’s a tricky distinction. It’s one thing when someone is truly "evil"—there are plenty of those types out there, and you need to recognize them, watch your back, and react accordingly—but it is an entirely different matter when you are simply weak and submissive

If that's the case, then you've got your own problems to deal with

Some might even call it a sin

I suspect the real issue lies with those people who are just so fundamentally good that they can't even wrap their heads around the idea that bad actors exist, so when someone finally does stab them in the back, they’re left completely shell-shocked 😲

Then, on the flip side, you have the ones who put on this massive act of being saints, when in reality they're just complete garbage who blame everyone else for their own mess 😛

It really comes down to figuring out which camp the author actually falls into 😁

Evil is merely a symptom of schizophrenia ☕

It’s an illusion... a fabricated concept... nothing more than a dogma

much like the myth of Santa Claus 😍

Nicholas Gonzalez73 said:I suspect the real issue lies with those people who are just so fundamentally good that they can't even wrap their heads around the idea that bad actors exist, so when someone finally does stab them in the back, they’re left completely shell-shocked 😲

Then, on the flip side, you have the ones who put on this massive act of being saints, when in reality they're just complete garbage who blame everyone else for their own mess 😛

It really comes down to figuring out which camp the author actually falls into 😁

Hmm. It’s only natural to feel that heavy sense of frustration that follows negative outcomes—if we want to sound more sophisticated than just saying "being really bummed out by bad results." 😍 It stems from impulsive actions taken without much thought.

We need to figure out which group the author falls into.😁

I’d say she’s in the good group.
In every possible sense.

Lawrence Bailey77 said:Evil is merely a symptom of schizophrenia ☕

It’s an illusion... a fabricated concept... nothing more than a dogma

much like the myth of Santa Claus 😍

Everything is relative and illusory, though in ethics, people tend to view evil through the lens of Hitler's principle.

casualharbor9 said:Everything is relative and illusory, though in ethics, people tend to view evil through the lens of Hitler's principle.

Forgive me, but I tend to live in reality rather than in the realm of abstract ethics... there are far too many various concepts and principles to account for, I suppose... it really comes down to free choice.👍

At first, I honestly thought someone was just trolling, 😵 but if this is for real, then here is my take. Looking at it through a religious lens, I see it this way: If Jesus wasn't meant to fully defeat Satan in this world, then I certainly can't be expected to either. 🙂Satan exists to test me, acting as a catalyst to help me discern what is truly good. I view evil as a profound trial that everyone must endure to mature and ultimately decide which path they want to walk.

I am certain that those who commit evil eventually face the consequences; I truly believe in the idea that everything comes back around. That said, facing evil can sometimes offer a strange kind of benefit, because once a person witnesses firsthand how destructive and corrosive evil is to both the spirit and the body, they often lose the desire to ever touch it again.

As painful as it is, evil can actually serve a purpose if a person is smart enough to learn from it—to realize that after hitting their head against a wall fifty times, they should probably try a different approach. Unfortunately, people tend to be quite foolish, often repeating the same mistakes and spinning in circles until they finally break themselves.

Lawrence Bailey77 said:Forgive me, but I tend to live in reality rather than in the realm of abstract ethics... there are far too many various concepts and principles to account for, I suppose... it really comes down to free choice.👍

Heh... funny thing is, "reality" existed back in the Roman Empire and during the Mongol Empire too, even if they didn't have much use for ethics either...

Here’s a solid thread from back in the day:

Kevin Nguyen3 said:Nick is an excellent choice; perfectly suited for you.

The first thing that strikes me about you is a certain lack of experience. I truly hope you grasp the implications of your socio-utopian musings, which seem to lead nowhere near a practical solution.
The real question remains: is such a society, the one you dream of, even necessary?
I suspect not. We attempted similar ideological shifts back in the 1960s here in the States, and it didn't exactly pan out, did it? Because for "good" to prevail and truly exist, it almost requires evil to be there to control it.

In circumstances like these, one must be adaptable—not like those friends of yours you keep mentioning. Every story has two sides, after all, so what we know about everything is merely your side of the tale.

Tell me, purely out of interest, what kind of guy was he when someone else managed to take him away from you??
Did you simply fail to act when the opportunity arose to snatch him up??
Did you even ask yourself that, or were you too busy obsessing over the pervasive evil in the universe?
Ultimately, let us define evil—is it the evil that happens to you, or is it the evil of a man scavenging through a dumpster??
The very same "evil" that befell you is just a standard Tuesday for someone else.
Your kindness, by some people's standards (which could arguably be justified), is seen as evil as well.
What constitutes good or evil is entirely subjective. We value different things differently, so attempting to generalize leads exactly to what you are doing—feeling utterly lost and unable to find your bearings.

But this interests me too—did your parents not attempt, during your upbringing, to present the world as a mix of good and evil rather than an idealized existence??
If they did, then why didn't they do the exact same thing with your sister?
Because it seems highly unlikely that you were both raised in such vastly different ways.

All of this points toward certain facts: you aren't nearly as "good" as you believe yourself to be—which is evidenced by the contempt, jealousy, and envy you display when writing about those around you—nor is there as much evil occurring around you as you try to distort into something tangible.

Life is much easier to endure if you try to analyze it objectively; there isn't an excess of evil or an excess of good. Everything exists in balance.

... hmmm... 🤔... big boobs?

casualharbor9 said:Heh... funny thing is, "reality" existed back in the Roman Empire and during the Mongol Empire too, even if they didn't have much use for ethics either...

Here’s a solid thread from back in the day:

🙄 ... but I suppose what isn't understood today will eventually be understood in due time, right?

I mean, ethics, morality, logic, philosophy—none of that really matters when you're dealing with a state of total schizophrenia... ☕

Lawrence Bailey77 said:🙄 ... but I suppose what isn't understood today will eventually be understood in due time, right?

I mean, ethics, morality, logic, philosophy—none of that really matters when you're dealing with a state of total schizophrenia... ☕

Anyway, that’s probably a conversation for a different thread. 😉
The issue at hand here seems to be the subjective perception of evil.

casualharbor9 said:Anyway, that’s probably a conversation for a different thread. 😉
The issue at hand here seems to be the subjective perception of evil.

No, that’s not quite it... what we are actually seeing here is a neurotic projection onto everyone else—a cocktail of personal inhibitions and deep-seated anxieties that just happen to find easy targets.

She doesn't know what actual bad people look like—no, she hasn't encountered anyone truly "evil" in her entire life...

driftinghound12 said:I couldn't find an existing thread for this, so I’m starting my own because I’m genuinely preoccupied with it... I view this more as a psychology question than a philosophical one. Throughout my life, I've made a conscious effort to be a good person—honest, fair, someone who pursues goals through creativity and hard work, and stays kind and helpful to everyone. I try to approach everything with a positive mindset. It would all be much easier to enjoy if there weren't people in my orbit who seem hell-bent on causing harm. Generally speaking, these are individuals who thrive on destruction, constantly seeking validation by stepping on others. They just seem drawn to malice.

One such person pretended to be my friend, only to steal my boyfriend after we had been together for years. Another is my sister; when I confided my plans to her, she rushed to execute them herself just to snatch the credit. She loves nitpicking me over trivialities and belittling me to others to make herself look better. Then there was a colleague at work who swiped one of my ideas—in a workplace where we're supposed to be collaborating toward a shared goal—and took all the praise for it.

Why are some people naturally drawn to darkness, finding satisfaction in tearing things down for their own gain? How are you supposed to handle them once they've already won? What can be done as a preventative measure? Clearly, I’m attracting this kind of energy somehow; perhaps I’m trying too hard to be nice or "good," making myself an easy target for exploitation. I also don't understand why society seems to reward these types. They’re arrogant and "resourceful," knowing how to grab what they want without putting in any actual sweat or effort. Nowadays, it feels like screwing someone over has become normalized, while being decent is treated as the anomaly. Lately, I've become so guarded and disillusioned with people that I don't trust anyone, let alone want to go out. It got so bad that I actually attempted suicide because the pressure from these toxic people became suffocating. I just feel like I'm worthless and that none of my efforts matter.🤦

Look, it sounds like you're surrounded by total negatives right now, but trust me, not everyone is built that way.

I know this is incredibly heavy and painful to deal with, but try to see the silver lining regarding that guy and that "friend." They showed you exactly who they were—they revealed their true colors so you aren't stuck wasting more years on people who don't value you. Now, you actually have space in your life to find people who are actually worth your time. If they hadn't burned those bridges, they could have kept dragging you along for years only to stab you in the back later.

It doesn't matter who these people are. Just tune them out and live your life on your own terms.

And please, don't think about suicide. You are worth so much more than you can believe right now. Even when everything feels completely bleak, things can—and likely will—change.

Try to get out there and meet new people, but do it without any heavy expectations. You'll meet someone and realize you don't click, someone might reject you outright, or you'll just drift apart from others over time. That's just how life works—it happens to everyone. But there will always be wonderful connections waiting for you, and those can turn into real, beautiful friendships. Maybe even a new love too. 🙂