If Why Then Vanish, 50th Day of Summer, 525 M.E. (Deneb): Evil does not naturally dwell in the world, in events, or in people. Evil is a by-product of forgetfulness, laziness, or distraction: it arises when we lose sight of our true aim in life. When we remember that our aim is spiritual progress, we return to striving to be our best selves. This is how happiness is won. - Epictetus, from The Manual (104-107 CE)

In Buddhist terms, Epictetus is saying that, in the absence of mindfulness, evil arises from greed, hate, and delusion. However, the mind that solely seeks the impermanence of this world of constant appearance and disappearance realizes the true nature of reality, transcending suffering and achieving liberation.

As a contemplative Stoic, I think that "evil" should be an adjective and not a  noun, even though the English language uses it otherwise. According to James Joyce, "There are sins or (let us call them as the world calls them) evil memories which are hidden away by man in the darkest places of the heart but they abide there and wait" (Ulysses, page 414, Modern Library edition, 1942). 

There's "evil intent" and "evil action," but there's no separate, quantifiable thing as "evil." Further, no person, place, or thing is "evil," even though their intentions, actions, or results can be described as "evil." I'm not giving anyone a free pass here, I'm just clarifying my thought. The people behind the bad intentions and harmful actions are not "evil," they're greedy, they're hateful, and they're deluded.

There are evil intentions and evil actions associated with the current cruel and unusual treatment of immigrants in the U.S. (and elsewhere), in the genocide of Palestinians and indigenous and other people all over the world, in the discriminant and lawless denial of rights to the LGBTQ and other marginalized communities. The list goes on and on. But talk about "free passes" - to simply say that the people behind these intentions and actions are "evil" is to oversimplify it and to miss the root cause. Those people suffer from greed, hate, and delusion, and evil intentions and actions arise from their suffering. 

This distinction is important because if we assume that the plight of immigrants, of Palestinians, of marginalized communities, and others is simply due to "evil," then we mistakenly assume we must eradicate the presence of that evil. The error is wanting the absence of something that doesn't exist as a "thing" in the first place. Instead, we should be addressing greed, hate, and delusion, the twisted roots that lead to evil intentions and actions.

I'm just going to come out and say it - the Stable Genius isn't "evil." But if you don't think he's greedy, from his gold-plated lifestyle, his financial scams, his constant transactional thinking, then you're the one who is deluded and denying the evidence right in your very face. If you don't think he's hateful, you haven't listened to his speeches or watched one of his rallies. If you don't think he's deluded, then look at his constant lying and his apparent inability to differentiate the truth from his own made-up fictions. 

The Stable Genius is as afflicted by greed, hate, and delusion as any person I care to imagine, and as a result he is suffering and suffering greatly. And from this greed, hate, and delusion, and in the absence of mindfulness, intentions and actions arise that can accurately be described as "evil." The big question, then, is "so what?" - all "pornosophical philotheological metaphysics" (Ulysses, page 425) aside, what should we do about it? 

Epictetus, the Buddha, the generations of Zen teachers all seem to agree that the solution isn't for us to try and change the Stable Genius, but to work on ourselves. MAGA, ICE, and the Republican Party (as well as institutions on the left) are impermanent, subject to appearance and disappearance, and empty of any independent existence. MAGA, ICE, and the Republicans are just the current but temporary and ephemeral manifestations of the twisted karma of American greed, hate, and delusion, rooted in slavery of Africans and genocide of the indigenous population, and carried forward though generations of Jim Crow, broken treaties and reservations, and war profiteering.

The spiritual solution is to work on ourselves to be generous, loving, and truthful, the opposite of greedy, hateful, and deluded, and to lead others by example to generosity, loving kindness, and awakened truthfulness. The Stable Genius and his harmful, hurtful policies would find no place among a generous, loving and honest people and would disappear like morning dew in the daytime sun.

I recognize that this is a long-term, generational, or multigenerational, solution, and in the meantime we suffer deportations, oppression, persecution, and more. But remember, the Buddha's first truth was the existence of suffering - it exists, always has, and always will. The absence of suffering is a delusion, and clinging to that delusion only causes more suffering (the second truth). But practicing generosity, loving kindness, and awakened truthfulness not only leads to that long-term, generational solution, but in the short-term here-and-now it helps us let go of our personal preferences and dissatisfactions and makes this wicked world more tolerable (the third and fourth truths).