FREE ESSAY ON THE LESSER EVIL

THE LESSER EVIL

Hathaway, Aaron
Period 7
The Lesser Evil
Barbara Harrison once said, "The toughest choices in life are not those between good and
evil, but those between the good and the lesser good." She makes a good point given that
those are the only types of choices that we must make. Sadly, there is a third type of
decision that we fear the most, the decisions between the bad and the lesser bad.
Distinguishing the lesser of two evils is far more difficult than identifying the greater
of two goods. 
Many times we are faced with situations where we are compelled to lie. Lying is wrong,
but in many cases is less destructive than telling the truth. Take a police officer, for
example, who has just apprehended a known criminal. He's taken away in an ambulance
before the officer could finish reading his rights. In court the officer is asked if the
criminal was read his rights in full. At this point the officer could either tell the
truth and let the criminal get away or lie and have him put behind bars. In this case
lying would be wrong, but telling the truth would be even worse. 
Personal sacrifice is often one of the options when making a hard decision. In these
cases we ask ourselves if we are willing to give something up in order to benefit others.
At first glance this may seem like a decision between good (charity) and evil
(selfishness). At a closer examination, however, we can see that in both cases one or the
other party is at a financial loss. Help the starving children in India! Save the
rainforest! What is it that makes us compelled to harm our checkbook? Guilt? Perhaps.
It's most likely the belief that we can help a world problem by sending our money to a
greedy corporation that will keep half of it for itself: a classic no-win situation. 
What about a decision that really makes us choose between the lesser of two evils? I
though you'd never ask. 
Hypothetical situation: You are staying in a quaint, forest cabin with your family. An
earthquake hits in the middle of the night sending tons of snow and ice down onto your
cabin. Sadly, a member of your family is terribly wounded when an iron support snaps
under the pressure of the snow and becomes lodged in his arm. It's not serious but
without antibiotics the wound becomes infected and leads to his death three days later.
By this time your family is starving, having eaten the loaf of bread and box of cereal
that you brought. You dare not try opening the door since it has buckled inwards from the
weight of the snow. You have no idea when help will come. Here's where you must make your
decision. Do you let your family starve and not desecrate your family member's body or do
you do the unthinkable and hold out a few more days, possibly saving the lives of your
family members and yourself?
Although extremely unlikely, while possible, this situation invokes the most feared type
of decision imaginable. Most people, including myself, would choose not to answer on the
basis that it would never happen. It's only natural for us to avoid something that we are
absolutely terrified of. 
Often those decisions that we recall as the hardest decisions in our lives are those that
force us to pick among several choices, all with unpleasant outcomes. We need to look
past the small everyday decisions in life when deciding what is truly difficult. Although
what Barbara Harrison said was true, she forgot to tell us that decisions between the bad
and the worse are infinitely more difficult to make.