----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Edward Becerra" <eabecerr@schollnet.com>
To: "Bombadil Goh" <biichan@shadowlady.com>; <ffml@anifics.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2004 11:31 PM
Subject: [FFML] Re: A possibility Re: Re: Youmas Attack the United States.

At 19:57 1/8/2004 -0800, Bombadil Goh wrote:

I'm just raising a possibility here that I would see
really happening in the background of this world setting
and why Beryl and etc would do the overt force route if
they were portrayed in an intelligent manner.

         The only problem with this, Bomb, is that evil
_rarely_ acts in an intelligent manner. While it's something
of a cliche' to say that being evil "damages the reality lobe
of the brain", there seems to be something to it.

         It's pretty much a given that to be evil means being
selfish & self-centered, and that does tend to make a person
short-sighted. After all, if you don't care about anyone
other than yourself, and you ARE going to die eventually
(even if 'eventually' is defined as "When the universe itself
winds down"), then you tend to focus on short-term goals only,
and that leads you to make long term errors in judgement.

Not a bad analysis, but it runs into a serious snag being applied to Berryl
and the rest, because they do care about one other being- Mettallia.  This
is partially due to their belief that serving Mettallia is their rout to
power, but it's also a loyalty that's nearly religious.  Admittedly that's
partially because Mettallia got inside all of their heads to insure it
was(Which could itself 'bork' their judgement), but that doesn't change the
fact that they do have a goal beyond the short term that's driving them on.

         Greed and selfishness are great motivators, but when
combined with impatience, they tend to bork a person's
judgement badly.

         A French king expressed it best, I think (or was it
Napoleon?), when he said "After me, the deluge!"
Meaning, of course, "I don't give a damn what happens to
France, as long as it doesn't happen until AFTER I'm dead.
The commoners? Oh. Screw them."

         The Japanese (or at least those who write the anime
and the manga) seem to have a pretty good grasp of this most
embarrassing side of human nature.

         I doubt you could get a Clue(TM) into the heads of
Beryl or her generals even if you engraved it on a .50 BMG
and shot it into one ear.

         Just the nature of the beast.

         Ed Becerra

         "Dreamers may die, but the Dream is eternal..."



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