Evil Instinct, Selfishness and Self-Interest…

We wake up, turn on the television or flip through the newspapers. In the early hours of the day we are confronted with a succession of bad news—a murder, an act of violence, a fraud, an injustice… We think to ourselves, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ At that very moment our child, who is about to go to school, starts telling us something. The more we listen, the heavier our hearts become. Because what we see in the news is no longer just events happening far away; it feels as if it has seeped into our lives, our neighborhood, even our home.

But we were not like that. We were friendly, we greeted each other. Even with small gestures in the neighborhood, on the street, at work we would make a difference. We would treat a neighbor’s trouble as our own, and we could not remain indifferent in the face of someone else’s misfortune. We would fill each other’s gaps and share each other’s joy.

When and how did we become like this?

In recent years we have found ourselves amid a wave of selfishness, self‑interest and malice that has grown like a snowball. Of course there has been evil throughout human history. But what really concerns us today is the banalization of evil, the triumph of self‑interest over morality, and the growing insensitivity of people to the suffering of others.

So what lies behind this change?

When we examine it a little, three interrelated concepts emerge: the instinct of evil, selfishness, and self‑interest.

Instinct is one of the fundamental drives that exist in human nature, enabling a person to sustain life and protect themselves. Survival, safeguarding what one possesses, meeting one's needs… These are traits nature has endowed upon humans. In the animal kingdom, these behaviors are a natural part of life. Yet the most distinguishing feature that separates humans from other living beings is intellect, conscience, and will. Humans are not compelled to follow every impulse that arises within them. What makes a person human is the ability to control those impulses.

Self‑interest, on the other hand, is the moment when a person begins to see the world only through their own window. They put themselves at the center, disregarding others' rights, labor, pain, and expectations. As empathy wanes, another's loss becomes insignificant. Sometimes another's unhappiness is even viewed as the price of one's own gain. This is precisely one of the places where social decay begins.

Benefit, however, is the state where self‑interest has become a calculation of gain. Everything is deemed permissible in pursuit of money, status, power, reputation, or personal comfort. When it comes to self‑interest, a person can set aside the values they defended yesterday for the sake of today. They may choose profit over justice, or what serves them over honesty. Moreover, they can concoct a variety of justifications for doing so.

Consider this: don't we see traces of these three forces at the root of many injustices, inequities, loss of trust, and social unrest that we experience today?

We face a broad tableau that ranges from drivers who refuse to yield on the road, to those who exploit others' labor in their work; from those who use their position for personal gain, to those who abandon the closest person halfway for the sake of benefit. We lose great values for small gains. We count leaving someone behind for a step ahead as a success.

Even more painful is that our children grow up witnessing all of this. The behaviors they encounter at home, on the street, in school, and on screens shape their worldview. While we teach them honesty, sharing, respect, and fairness, how much can we impart in an environment where adults do the exact opposite?

Let us not forget that children take examples from what we do rather than what we say.

Of course, it is not right to place the responsibility for all of this solely on individuals. From family to education, from politics to media, from the workplace to the justice system, every institution in society has a stake in this change. A system in which cunning, not honesty, is rewarded; proximity, not merit, is highlighted; power, not the pursuit of justice, yields results, erodes people’s values over time.

So, is there no way out?

There is, of course. But we must start with ourselves first.

We must learn to balance our instincts with reason, our selfishness with empathy, and our interests with conscience. We should value others’ rights as much as our own, and act rightly in every circumstance, not only when we have the power.

Because evil does not grow merely from the presence of those who do it; it also expands when the good remain silent, turn a blind eye to injustice, and eventually become accustomed to it.

Being human is not merely living one's own life. It is being able to live while respecting another's rights without harming their life. Being a society is not just living side by side on the same street, in the same city, in the same country; it is being able to respect each other's existence, rights, and honor.

Perhaps the thing we need most today is to remember again that old sense of humanity we have begun to lose.

Because what makes a person human is not how much they have earned, but what they have not given up in pursuit of it.