I’ve always had a fascination with the darker side of life — a lot of people do, which is why movies and TV shows like Hannibal and CSI and Larry the Cable Guy draw audiences. It led me to a degree in criminal psychology, and continues to dictate the direction of much of my writing.

The more I think about it today, though, the real villains of this world are not the serial killers and the terrorists. Not that I’m putting them up on a pedestal, mind you, but I think they get all the attention because we don’t see them that much, and so they seem more fictional to a lot of us.

The real evil in this world is all around us, much more insidious in its working and completely permeating most of our lives in one form or another. We study the Charles Mansons and the Osama bin Ladens of the world to understand what could bring other people to end innocent (I’m being pulled on a riff about whether innocence really exists outside of the womb, but I’ve got to get to the library to return a CSI DVD set) lives. But is ending a life really as evil as creating a long life filled with pain or sorrow?

Those around us who are emotionally or physically abusive and neglectful. People who manipulate our lives and our hearts for their own gain, no matter what the cost to us. Those who take advantage of the kindness and generosity of others without giving in return. These people exist in a tangible form for every one of us. You could argue that we have more control over these situations than a murder or bombing victim, but I don’t know that we do — I mean, in theory, yes, inarguably. But in practice? People rarely recognize the things that are within their power, much less taking control over those things. We’re conditioned to suffer for others, that causing pain to others in the short term is wrong, even if it means infinitely more suffering to us over an extended period. Some of us are even told from the start that we are bad, that we are to blame for anything and everything.

If I take my own advice and look at this from a different perspective, focusing on the good instead of the bad, then I have to admit that these people are the Nautilus Bowflexes of the spiritual world – but looking utterly ridiculous and costing far too much.. They help us to define and build character within ourselves, becoming stronger and less willing to grant them meaningless power over us. Certainly, I’ve learned to recognize and avoid these people, and my life is sincerely more drama- and stress-free since I’ve done so. These people have also helped me spot these same characteristics in my own personality, and do my best to eliminate (or at least keep in check) behaviors stemming from them.

But sadly, most people aren’t terribly self-aware. Most people, for reasons that are beyond me, are willing to keep the status quo rather than deal with a short burst of hurt from which they will heal. They leave the glass in the wound because pulling it out will hurt, when the reality is that the sooner the glass comes out, the quicker the pain and the healing as well. Leaving that glass in, though, is being okay with a constant throbbing pain, the anxiety of the eventual (and necessary) sharp pain, and — maybe worst of all — the increased chance of infection.

As much as I can’t understand the victim mentality, though, I’m left aghast at those who can be the victimizers. The abusive parents and spouses, the manipulative, the lazy, the freeloaders, the bullies. As much as I want to chalk it up to being human (albeit the weakest and most despicable elements thereof), I have to think there’s more to it than simply a cyclical pattern of learning how to make yourself feel stronger by being weak.

For tonight, I’ll drink, instead, and simply blame it on the fact that most of the human race are shitbags.