For the evils of the world, blame Prometheus, who loves us humans the most. According to Greek mythology, it was his deception and contradiction of Zeus that brought the most powerful Olympian god to order the creation of the beautiful and blessed woman named Pandora (meaning "all-gifted"). Zeus had her brought into the world solely to wreak havoc on the mortal earth, knowing the natural mischievous, conniving, and self-centric whims of women (all of whom, according to Zeus, ruin everything with their curiosity). And curiosity did kill the cat, so to speak. When her husband, Epimethius wasn't looking, she opened his sacred and forbidden jar of the blessings of the gods, and consequently all of them vanished from the world save one last, hastily trapped gift: hope. So really, thanks to ol' Pro, all hope's not lost; it's just pointless, because we can't actually have anything else. (The legend is really sort of a beautiful allegory for human nature (hope) vs. circumstantial reality (futility), although it's also terribly defeatist from a human standpoint.)
Some evils are more fun than others (for example, gambling and swearing are top tier "fun and popular" sins); and some evils are so not fun that they are just entirely and indisputably wrong. Among these things are the most pervasive of human sins: apathy, condescension, ignorance, selfishness, intolerance. All of these things are the most shameful because they are so preventable, yet so common. It's pretty easy for one to change their mindset, but not quite so easy to keep the world from other perils, such as murder or assault. Yet these evils are at the base of so many unnecessary conflicts, and even national and international problems. (For example, if Americans were more tolerant and less selfish, it might not have taken the country an entire century after emancipation to take the most necessary steps towards equality for blacks.)
Essentially, it's not these "sins" themselves that are so bad, but the unhealthy environment they produce within a culture, and the kinds of behaviors they breed. Those are the evils I'd most like to squander, the evils that nearly everyone commits, which are committed often, and flourish when societies despair: when people are simply self-seeking, indifferent, and lethargic, disinterested in making the world a better place.
Some evils are more fun than others (for example, gambling and swearing are top tier "fun and popular" sins); and some evils are so not fun that they are just entirely and indisputably wrong. Among these things are the most pervasive of human sins: apathy, condescension, ignorance, selfishness, intolerance. All of these things are the most shameful because they are so preventable, yet so common. It's pretty easy for one to change their mindset, but not quite so easy to keep the world from other perils, such as murder or assault. Yet these evils are at the base of so many unnecessary conflicts, and even national and international problems. (For example, if Americans were more tolerant and less selfish, it might not have taken the country an entire century after emancipation to take the most necessary steps towards equality for blacks.)
Essentially, it's not these "sins" themselves that are so bad, but the unhealthy environment they produce within a culture, and the kinds of behaviors they breed. Those are the evils I'd most like to squander, the evils that nearly everyone commits, which are committed often, and flourish when societies despair: when people are simply self-seeking, indifferent, and lethargic, disinterested in making the world a better place.
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