Why Do Bad Guys Kill

Every night before bed, after potty break, basic hygiene practice, and tackling my eldest son to get him dressed or not, we talk. It started because Tom is an Olympic level staller, perfectly capable of delaying his bedtime, and he had a lot of questions about what happened to him during the day. I can understand the guy wanting to try to understand.

From there, he went into hardcore stall tactics. His “questions,” as adorable as they were, mostly consisted of, “Dad, you’re the most awesomest guy in the whole wide world.”

“Uhm…buddy, that isn’t a question.”

“Oh. Dad, you’re the most…”

“Still, not a question. I’m leaving.”
“Waaaaaaait. One more question.”

That was most nights.

More recently, he’s been trying to sneak questions into prayers. I think he’s trying to grasp the concept of what a question actually is.

Uh, this is a lot of exposition, are we going to get to the meat of the story

Yea, sorry.

Last night, Tom asked me “Why do bad guys kill?” I offered him an off the cuff answer relating good and evil to whether or not you care for others, which seemed to satisfy his need for answers.

But it got me thinking. How much of philosophical teaching about life came from conversations with toddlers. I have never thought about what makes someone bad.

• Hitler = Bad
• Lincoln = Good
• Truman = Ambiguous, depending on who you ask

I hope this doesn’t evolve into question on the meaning of life, the universe and everything. I’m pretty sure “42” won’t be satisfactory.