The corrupting effect of worldly engagement

It is one of the more obvious lessons of life experience that prolonged engagement with some kind of evil environment almost-always has a corrupting effect on people - and consequently on groups including nations. 

While theoretically avoidable, in practice is seems almost inevitable that dealing with evil and with those who are themselves deeply involved; responding to evil aggressions and temptations, trying to defend against them...

The process of repeatedly trying to seek and pursue the lesser of evils...

Over time, this wears down people and institutions, and they conform to the level of those they engage with - even when they start-out as on-the-side-of Good. 

This wearing-down certainly happened to me whenever (as was common enough) I was often engaged with the activities of those whose motivations I initially tried not to share. 

My principles would become compromised by compromise, my perspective would shift' and the attempt to resist some particular evil, would result in playing people at their own game. 

This can be seen in history; when nations at war progressively become more like those they war with. If World War II began as UK resistance to totalitarian tyranny and population manipulation; the UK very soon began to mirror exactly that which it purported to oppose - especially deliberate mass indiscriminate slaughter of innocents (innocents swiftly being redefined as complicit- and quasi-combatants). 

Total war meant totalitarian - which is intrinsically evil. 

(Although the totality was not uniform - e.g. there remained reciprocity of decent treatment of prisoners of war between the UK and Germany; at the same time as prisoners were slaughtered, starved, enslaved, and worked to death by both sides on the Eastern front.) 

We can see the same in everyday life, when someone somewhat decent takes a managerial job or gets involved in bureaucracy - we can observe the (usually rapid, mostly unconscious) assimilation to totalitarian standards and values. We can observe the assimilation, and this may be extreme.   

I experienced exactly this myself, while working (a couple of days a week, for a couple of years) for the NHS bureaucracy. 

Simply in order to be reasonable friendly - to make the most of a bad situation, and to do my bit effectively - I was quickly drawn into the characteristic habitual thinking of those who participate in the systemic evil of our society.

The has always been some element of this, due to the nature of "human condition". 

But in the past, groups and institutions were sometimes overall-good in terms of their aims and affiliations, and their discourse. And Men we unable to detach from their group-mind - it was simply how human consciousness was. 

And so people got the idea that the fundamental and primary issues of human values were located at the level of groups: that is, our convictions and principles ought to relates to tribes, institutions, religions, nations, ideologies... whatever.  

Whereas nowadays we inhabit a world where all institutions are Systemic; necessarily assimilated to a global ideology that is nameless (because universal), pursues inverted values, and serves a demonic agenda.

So that it is nigh impossible for those who must earn a living and engage with "the world" to avoid the pervasive converging influences that will almost certainly corrupt them - even if they begin by recognizing System-evil and wanting to avoid convergence, and instead adhere to transcendental values of Truth, Beauty and Virtue (which not many do). 

 

The "material" situation for many (most) people is one of being besieged by the world! And this is a war that cannot be won - but shall certainly be lost by trying to win it!

But, God would not place us in a situation where we could not personally achieve spiritual victory; by choosing salvation and learning eternal life lessons. 

Given the fact of global evil and the divine certainty that you and I or anyone can win the spiritual war; The Big Question for each and all is: how?

(i.e. There is, for every person, an effective and attainable answer to our predicament - our job is "merely" to find it! But, while seeking; we should be confident that it is there to be found...)