Consequentialism

Why is it?:

"Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions."
— T.S. Eliot

Seems counter intuitive. Surely most of the evil in this world is done by evil people: psychopaths and ASPD-types. Not really. Psychopaths get caught out quickly. ASPD-types, like the rest of us, can't see that they're harming other people. To do real evil one must enlist the support of people who believe they're doing good. For those cursed with consequentialist (utilitarian) morality: "ends justify the means", always. Today, good people are often consequentialist in their ethical beliefs. Consequentialism is the default morality of socialists. Indeed almost all socialism postdates the invention of consequentialism, as a philosophy, by Jermeny Bentham: Utilitarianism. Consequentialism is the natural philosophy of atheists. It just says do the most good for the greatest number of people. It does not say anything about consulting them, nor about checking that good was actually done.

Note: "An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation", by Jeremy Bentham. Was published in 1789. Just in time for the French Revolution.