Some organizations, KKK, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, the Republican Q Party etc. are more evil (anti-democratic) than others. Some individuals, Adolf H., Stalin, T. Cruz, DJT, Dick Cheney, L. Graham, R. Guiliani, etc. are more evil (authoritarian) than others.
On the other hand, organizations like March for Our Lives, Sunrise Movement, Me Too, Movement for Black Lives, United We Dream, Fight for Fifteen, Democratic Socialists of America, Brand New Congress, Justice Democrats, Medicare for All, Moms Demand Action, Sisters United Alliance and Socialist Alternative (SA) are far less evil than either the Democratic or Republican Parties, the oligarchs who control them or anyone listed in the previous paragraph. They are also less evil than any authoritarian predatory capitalist who puts profit before people.
The Political Compass provides a visualization for this evil and all our lesser evils. It shows, on an X-Y graph, where individuals fit in the social and economic world in which we all live. It includes a verticle Authoritarian/Democratic axis. This (social/political) axis represents one scale of evil. Any person or organization could be ranked on this axis according to how evil/authoritarian or democratic they are. Fascists are near the top and SA at the bottom with Republicans and some Democrats closer to the Fascists and other Social Democrats closer to SA.
One trait, I attribute to this authoritarian grey scale of evil is EQUALITY. At the authoritarian end of the scale, we have maximized INEQUALITY - maximized social hierarchy where the 1% are most free. At the democratic end, we have maximized EQUALITY - maximized social equality with the 1% least free. The attributes of WAR and PEACE also apply to this axis. Where we have maximum INEQUALITY, we have perpetual WAR. With maximized equality, PEACE is far more likely because of much less social INEQUALITY.
Similar extremes are represented on the horizontal economic axis of the Political Compass. The far right is maximum economic INEQUALITY based on a similar social hierarchy scale - the 1% gets 80%of the income and wealth. To the left of this axis, the 99% decide democratically how income and wealth are distributed.
Below are several graphics from the Political Compass website showing where the candidates fit in the compass. The first graph includes my elaboration on its meanings as relates to a concentrated evil and a trinity of lesser evils. Relative to this annotated chart of evil/authoritarian and good/democratic values, here are my definitions for the four quadrants of this classification tool in terms of social and economic suppression/freedom:
- Upper right: This quadrant includes those individuals oriented toward social hierarchy and INEQUALITY for both social and economic freedoms. Most right-wing authoritarian (RWA) followers reside here, but not exclusively. In terms of George Lakoff's two family models, this quadrant includes those who best fit his Strict-father family model - authoritarian and anti-democratic.
- Upper right of the upper right: The upper right quadrant of this quadrant represents the authoritarian leaders for the economic neoliberals and Christian fundamentalists - The Greatest Evil. Those in this 16th of the grid represent RWA Social Dominators and Double Highs. R. Reagan belongs in this extremist 'quadrant of quadrants' - see other charts below for current political leaders who cohabit this realm. Frank Schaeffer refers to the "fringe of the fringe" when discussing his book, Crazy for God. The Greatest Evil is a fringe of the fringe but on a broader scale. In the USA, this quadrant of quadrants is dominated by excessively wealthy, heterosexual, sexist, Christianist, xenophobic, racist white men. This anti-democratic group uses predatory capitalism to destroy democracy around the world.
- Lower left: Includes individuals oriented toward democratic EQUALITY for both social and economic freedoms. In terms of George Lakoff's two family models, this quadrant is the exemplar for his Nurturant Parents family model. In terms of the economics proposed by Professor Wolff, voters in this quadrant prefer to replace predatory capitalism with a democratic economic system that disempowers The Greatest Evil - oligarchs. The lower left quadrant of this quadrant represents full-on social/economic democracy - the opposite of The Greatest Evil.
- The Social Better: A unity of the entire Lower Left quadrant - maximized social and economic EQUALITY - plus those individuals in the adjacent quadrants who strongly favor maximizing either social or economic EQUALITY.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
