Reply #20: Are Conservatives Evil?

[Ravenseye]

For those that don't know, when you play D&D you have an 'alignment' thats like your outlook on the world. It's either Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic, combined with either Good, Neutral, or Evil. (for instance Lawful Good, Neutral Evil, etc) I was going through my old books and found that the definitions in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (1st Edition) Dungeon Master's Guide really strike me.

I haven't put in the neutral alignments (True Neutral, Lawful Neutral, and Chaotic Neutral) as I don't think many people are ever them in real life. Lawful Neutral for instance would be a person who doesn't care about what a law does other than promote order. Chaotic Neutral would be like an anarchist, no order, no laws, all freedom. Do whatever. The Good alignments and Evil alignments though are where most people lie.

What aligment are you? What alignment are conservatives?



Lawful Good: Creatures of lawful good alignment view the cosmos with varying degrees of lawfulness or desire for good. They are convinced that order and law are absolutely necessary to assure good, and that good is best defined as whatever brings the most benefit to the greater number of decent, thinking creatures and the least woe to the rest.

Neutral Good: Creatures of this alignment see the cosmos as a place where law and chaos are merely tools to use in bringing life, happiness and prosperity to all deserving creatures. Order is not good unless it brings this to all; neither is randomess and total freedom desirable if it does not bring such good.

Chaotic Good: To the chaotic good individual, freedom and independence are as important to life and happiness. The ethos views this freedom as the only means by which each creature can achieve true satisfaction and happiness. Law, order, social forms, and anything else which tends to restrict or abridge individual freedom is wrong, and each individual is capable of achieving self-realization and prosperity through himself, herself, or itself.



Lawful Evil: Obviously, all order is not good, nor are all laws beneficial. Lawful evil creatures consider order as the means by which each group is properly placed in the cosmos, from lowest to highest, strongest first, weakest last. Good is seen as an excuse to promote the mediocrity of the whole and suppress the better and more capable, while lawful evilness allows each group to structure itself and fix its place as compared to others, serveing the stronger but being served by the weaker.

Neutral Evil: Similar to the neutral good alignment, that of neutral evil holds that neither groups nor individuals have great meaning. This ethos holds that seeking to promote wealth for all actually brings woe to the truly deserving. Natural forces which are meant to cull out the weak and stupid are artificially suppressed by so-called good, and the fittest are wrongfully held back, so whatever means are expedient can be used by the powerfull to gain and maintain their dominance, without concern for anything.

Chaotic Evil: The chaotic evil creature holds that individual freedom and choice is important, and that other individuals and their freedoms are unimportant if they cannot be held by the individuals through their own strength and merit. Thus, law and order tends to promote not individuals but groups, and groups suppress individual volition and success.

So? What are you? I usually played as Neutral Good or Chaotic Good, because I identified with that, but the older I get the more I'm drifiting towards being Lawful Good.

What alignment are your favorite conservatives? Are conservatives evil by this definition?