What is wrong?

[ArrowLance]

Can actions be called right or wrong? What makes mass killings and genocides 'evil?' What should we use to judge actions?

I would say it is unfair to judge actions based on our own culture and ideology. If we did we would need to accept the liberal idea that others in doing the same thing were justified in those actions we would like to judge. We can not judge others actions based on our own lenses, or else they would be equal in doing the same.

However we can accept that no culture or ideology is inherently right. Then we can argue about which culture or ideology should be right. It always come down to agreement, convincing others of your position; when you try to argue about whether actions are right or wrong you risk disagreement based on the contrasting ideas. So instead we should argue about whether the ideas behind the actions were right or wrong.

For example the events in Uganda with the child soldiers and killing. While you may not ever see those actions as acceptable others can. I myself can legitimize the use of children in a revolutionary movement and the slaughter of counter-revolutionaries and doing what it takes to secure the movement. So if we judge the actions based on our views, we get an incredibly skewed view, essentially there is no context. Instead we must decide if the ideas warranting the actions are right or wrong. In this case I feel they are wrong.

Perhaps more relevant to our forums is the treatment of kulaks in the USSR. By western standard the seizure of their property and relocation of themselves is oppressive and wrong. However by the socialist ideas of the USSR it is quite the opposite, doing these things is liberating and right. While these two positions are obviously not the only two in existence, it comes down to what ideas are right.

You can not condemn an action within yourself; you have to look externally and legitimize a contradicting idea while discrediting the supporting idea. Both are required as you can not have a contradicting idea without discrediting the counter part and you can't discredit an idea without an alternative.