Incompetence & Evil

I’ve always felt like incompetence and evil were siblings to each other. Or at least close cousins.

We’re all incompetent at something; it’s simply lacking the ability or skill. That isn’t the problem. But If we continue trying to do something without acquiring the skill to do it properly, we will remain incompetent.

One of my favorite seasons of Fargo is Season One. Lester Nygaard is a husband and insurance salesman. He’s been working hard at it for years and he’s incompetent at both.

His weakness: boundaries.

The man never figured it out. THE ENTIRE SEASON is a (darkly) hilarious, sordid devolution of events. All spawned from a man who could never figure out that he had weak boundaries. He felt like a victim in his life, and he played that role very well. Everything was someone else’s fault. He blamed his tools, his salary, and his bullies (wife included). But it was his fear of setting boundaries that created all the problems in his life.

One failed attempt after another until he eventually threw himself into unspeakable darkness. In the end, this dull and seemingly timid man was ultimately responsible for three deaths. No one ever saw it coming, and he didn’t either.

Being aware of your incompetencies means protecting yourself and others from bad thinking and reckless action. Having a full appreciation of your own human capacity for destruction can save lives.

Look alive. Stay awake to yourself. It doesn’t take a long walk to get to hell.