What is evil? <rant>
There is so little evil for evil's sake these days. There is always some political or monetary reason behind people's actions. The funny thing is most evil seems to have political reasons instead of money. There are not many monetary problems that more money will not fix.  Most political troubles require complex communication and compromise. Political problems are caused by lack of resources, absence of freedom, crime, censorship, oppression, or any other thing that all the money in the world will not fix. (Crime is not always money related. Drugs are bought with money, but it is the addiction and the willingness of people do commit other crimes to get more drugs that is the problem.) Conflict arises when one person wants something another person has, or is. If you have a cookie, and I want your cookie, we have a conflict. I can buy your cookie, or steel your cookie if you are unwilling to sell. However, if you are something that I cannot tolerate, we have a conflict that money will not solve. I must learn to tolerate the difference, or remove you, or myself from you.
In the years leading up to World War II, the Nazis used existing prejudice to directed the focus of a country's people to hate a minority. This minority was blamed in one way or another for all the political troubles that money would not solve. This minority was blamed for problems that had been around for longer than the country had existed. It baffles me how a people can be convinced that a few people around them are the root of all that is wrong at the moment. It happened in WWII and it is happening right now. Not only is it happening in Africa, but closer to home as well.
In the U. S. we just haven't picked the one point of blame. We single out small groups for short periods of time to blame for the latest trouble. When Enron brought down the energy trading industry, we scream "rein in the CEOs". When a particularly heinous crime occurs we blame the manufacturer of the means of the crime (auto manufacturer, gun manufacturer, crow-bar manufacturer) instead of the people who committed the crime. I'm starting to think the strategy to prevent mob control is keeping the attention of people bouncing from one topic to the next faster than people can get organized to change things. Maybe this is a good thing. I do not want the repeat of Nazi Germany.
Is evil defined by why some one does something? Is evil defined by the means to solve your needs? I'm trying to think of one pure evil thing, or doing. I'm trying to think of one pure evil person. When you  remove the political desires (redistribution of resources) from actions and people, the line between good and evil blur.