The grammar of cruelty
The English verb 'to be cruel' is conjugated (*see note below) as follows:
PRESENT TENSE
I am driven by unfortunate necessity,
You (singular) are excessively harsh,
He/she/it tortures,
We defend ourselves against aggression
You (plural) overreact to provocation
They commit an appalling atrocity
FUTURE TENSE
I will act only if provoked
You are likely to misjudge the situation
He/she/it will be unpredictably violent
We will do whatever we have to
You will stamp down hard
They will destroy us all
PAST IMPERFECT TENSE
I did not always follow my own moral standards
Your conduct was unacceptable
He/she/it plumbed new depths of viciousness
We were doing bad things to bad people
You were acting disgracefully
They displayed unimaginable cruelty
PAST PERFECT TENSE
There is no such tense. When it comes to cruelty, the past is always imperfect.
(*) Grammatical note: Verbs are conjugated. Nouns, like inconvenient rules about human rights, are declined.
