For a certainty, there is evil in this world, of which, there are many theories about why there is so much evil and why it is so prevalent, in which, the most sensible conclusion to draw is that it must have to do with the fact that we are free will agents, and as free will agents we thus are thereby enabled to think the wrong thoughts, to make the wrong decisions, and to conduct those types of acts which are fundamentally flawed. Further to the point, there are a fair amount of people that perform evil or inconsiderate acts, that actually profess their belief that they see nothing much wrong with what they are doing, which thus represents ignorance. So too, there are plenty of people that have a good understanding of what is the right thing to do, but because of temptation or a weak will, lack then the discipline to toe the line and to thereby then consistently to do the right thing.
So then, the very first thing that we need to do, is to remove the false view that we have of our own position in this world, and endeavor to embrace the true view, instead. After all, those that live in a delusion of their own making because they will not embrace truth or bother to sincerely search for such, are not ever going to be paragons of virtue, because they lack the ready capacity to do so. Indeed, within each one of us should be an implicit understanding that if we do not know who and what we really are, as well as the inherent principle of what we are supposed to be about, then it will be happenstance as to whether we get to the destination that must so be reached in order to effectively have liberating knowledge.
In life, there are a multitude of ways that we can go about our business, in which, for those that demonstrate aforethought, they understand the importance of the need to comprehend who and what they really are, in essence. Indeed, there isn't any good point in being on the train that leaves the station, if we haven't been properly prepared for our destination, and further don't even know whether that destination is even the right place for us to go. This thus means that we basically need to diligently search for enlightenment so as to overcome the ignorance or misrepresentation of who and what we currently are, so that we can thus take in the right stuff so as to become a liberated being, instead.
Look, we need to get our priorities right, or else we will be susceptible to just spinning our wheels, or end up making the same types of mistakes, again and again. In western societies, there is a strong emphasis upon material achievement, but this doesn't mean that this is correct – for what we see in society is fairly reflected in all the inequality, discord, and incivility that society so often suffers from. So then, there must be room for improvement, and there indeed is, for when we are successful in removing the scales from our eyes that blind us, we will overcome the ignorance that hinders us, and when we faithfully embrace the truth, we will say goodbye to falsehood, and thereby destroy the root of evil, and replace such with the resolute flag of truth.