Dichotomy

 People do things wrong, I know. 
 I've been a people for awhile;
 Often conscious what we do
 Lies between less than optimal,
 And somewhere far more hideous,
 More angry, carnal, deceptive.

 Evil or sick: it's possible we're both.

 And then we alternate between
 Moral and psychological explanations:
 Unforgiving of lapses of the first kind,
 Understanding of mistakes of the second.
 People we disapprove of are evil;
 People whose tribe we identify with
 Can't help what they do, or are excused.
 These distinctions are often arbitrary.

 Evil or sick: it's possible we're both.

 We must decide if we believe
 People have agency or not,
 And if so, when or when not;
 We cannot fix a problem which
 Is only a problem for our enemies
 And that we're blind to in our friends.

 Evil or sick: it's possible we're both.

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