C.S. Lewis died in 1963, but a comment in one of his writings speaks directly to the current opioid crisis. Lewis wrote:
“The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.”
It has been shown to be the facts in the matter that executives and managers at a pharmaceutical company deliberately lied about the addictive nature of their drug in order to make more profit. Their actions have directly led to our present situation of thousands of deaths each month and massive societal problems as a result. If true, then that wouldn’t just be behavior that is “questionable” or “hard-hearted” or “mercenary.” No, that would require another word to describe it: evil.