"The Greater Good"

[Fourth Hunter]

I mean it was portrayed as awful by Rowling, but really, is it? If it truly is for the good of the whole, it may be a good thing. Of course, Grindelwald did use this slogan to do horrible things, but he used it as a catchy phrase to gain supporters, he didn't actually follow the ideology. If he had followed the ideology, would we have seen him as evil? Would he have been evil?

[dekket]

The problem with "The Greater Good" is that someone has to define it.
Perhaps Grindelwald did actually believe that the world would be improved for the majority of people under his tyrannical rule.

[The Ace]

Darwinism is for the greater good of the species. Just look what happened when Hitler and his cronies had fun with it.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by dekket

The problem with "The Greater Good" is that someone has to define it.

And no one not able to see "outside of time", as it were, could truly be certain of what "the greater good" actually is. Even the most beneficent actions can often have disastrous consequences further down the line, where the worst can sometimes have the most beneficial in the end. In the final analysis, "the greater good" is something that only Time will define; as long as the repercussions of any action are ongoing, it's impossible to say with entire certainty.

Perhaps Grindelwald did actually believe that the world would be improved for the majority of people under his tyrannical rule.

As is the case with nearly all who set out to push their agenda on the world around them, no matter their intention, they usually end up causing more harm than otherwise....

[pyan]

I always thought it was a bitter joke on the Nazi's labelling of things - like Arbeit Mach Frei...

[Lioness]

It depends on what means are taken to acheive 'the greater good'
if someone decides that this world is becoming too violent, and undertakes to stop that by killing everyone. Sure it stops the violence, but there is no-one left to be violent to.

That was a bit of an extreme example though.

[alexx]

I think the most interesting thing about the greater good idea was that it's employed in a lot of situations, in Grindelvald's it was to one extreme, and not one with a positive impact either. Dumbledore, however, still acts for the greater good and it turns out alright. He doesn't tell Harry certain things so that he can come to certain realizations himself, so that Harry can understand and act for the greater good -saving all those people by being the one to face and defeat Voldemort. So it kind of depends on the person's understanding and interpretation of the idea of the greater good.