Can a society bear this much evil?

We are going through a terrifying period. Throughout the day, we watch the developments in Turkey and the world through information, photos, and videos shared on various platforms, social media, news agencies, and different sources; we try to convey these to our readers by interpreting them or presenting them as they are. Those who experience this work firsthand know well how draining and exhausting it is.

However, recently, the scale of events that make one ashamed of humanity and cause storms in your inner world when witnessed has reached a weight that turns the lives of ordinary people into hell.

We have witnessed countless evils for many years. But mankind, as with everything else, seems insatiable for evil as well.

I had intended to write an article last week. I looked at the “most read news” section flowing on the left side of one of the agencies we follow. There were brutal murder reports piled up one after another.

I am writing this piece late at night as well. On May 1st, we were once again faced with the news. Since I had focused on the May 1st celebrations throughout the day, I hadn't seen some of the reports. That was until I poured a cup of tea in the evening and sat in front of the television…

Two beings, whom I would be ashamed to call human, were torturing a miserable, hungry, thirsty, homeless old man in İzmir. They went up to him and kicked him right in the middle of his face with all their heartlessness. They laughed, they had fun. The fact that these creatures of unknown origin recorded those “fun moments” on video and shared them on social media was another dimension of the disgusting act they committed.

Learning that these despicable criminals, who tortured a poor, helpless old man perhaps waiting for death, have been taken into custody no longer means anything at all.

These terrible beings, left to society by sick parents, point to a deadly danger for people, for animals, for nature, and above all for children and women.

Of course, there is great ignorance behind this evil. The failure of the government, which is the creator of all the elements that lead to lack of education, injustice, impunity, and the decay of society, is also a part of this picture. But it is not possible to attribute the issue to just a few reasons.

While the anger created by this incident was still weighing heavily on my mind, I encountered another image on the phone I picked up.

A masked police officer was spraying pepper spray into the eyes of a young woman who had committed no crime. And in a way that would blind her. Insidiously and with a state of mind of great evil… Spraying pepper spray into the eyes of a woman who poses not the slightest danger to anyone around is nothing but a despicable attitude.

We know, no one will be held accountable.

In her book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Hannah Arendt argues that evil does not always come from a “monstrous” source. According to Arendt, evil can arise not so much from sadistic pleasure, but from unquestioning obedience, becoming a cog in a bureaucratic machine, and the mindset of “just doing one's duty.”

It is worth reminding the police officer who sprayed the pepper spray of this.

Policing is among the professions that face the greatest difficulties. Working hours, lack of leave, and an irregular life make life a dungeon for many police officers. Many of them struggle with financial difficulties. We know from their own reactions that they are given sandwiches with a few slices of cucumber inside that are on the verge of molding during long shifts. We also follow with sadness that police officers are victims of virtual gambling due to stress, heavy workload, mobbing, and other reasons, and that some of them take their own lives.

So, on what grounds and with what state of mind can a police officer, who is also a laborer, spray pepper spray into the face of a laborer, a worker, or a student defending their rights? Or, as another did, press their face into the asphalt and choke them?

In short, this evil is now too much.

Good people, journalists, intellectuals, teachers, mothers, fathers… Everyone in this society who is ready to fight for the sake of goodness must now say “enough.” It is time to start a real struggle for the sake of goodness.

Because if we cannot cultivate hope, what is the point of living?