Evil is not a product of deprivation

I’m reading Ender’s Shadow, generously lent to me by Tiffany L. One amazing part of the book reminded me that evil is not a product of deprivation. I think I’ve blogged about this idea before, so if you find it, link me to it :) Some people have the idea that people are mean to each other because they’re poor, or somehow desperate. But that’s not the case at all. Even rich people, with all physical needs met, are evil and sinful. And this is just a reminder of that truth. From Page 53:

Surely Achilles would become truly civilized then, where the desperation of the street no longer drove children to do such hideous things to each other.

Then she realized what nonsense she had been thinking. It wasn’t the desperation of the street that drove Achilles to murder Poke. It was pride. It was Cain, who thought that being shamed was reason enough to take his brother’s life. It was Judas, who did not shrink to kiss before killing. What was she thinking, to treat evil as if it were a mere mechanical product of deprivation? All the children of the street suffered fear and hunger, helplessness and desperation. But they didn’t all become cold-blooded, calculating murderers.