@Don:
Extremism is bad , no doubt about it, but that doesn`t make a person being extreme a bad person in general.
For example when someone would kill my child, i would see it as justice to kill that guy.
Would be extreme from my side, but does that make me evil?
I mean ask your mother if she would understand my actions.
Extremism doesnt include that you ,who might act that way, is evil. It more or less just implies you acted the wrong way according to society, but even in this case you may find many sympathizers for your behaviour (see in Akainus case the whole govertment and other marines), especially when the world you
re living in has so many flaws (almost the whole world has to be afraid of pirates ((even when we as readers know even more evil organisations^^))))
So my original point wasnt to argue in favour for Akainu, because we as readers see the stoy from a perspective which makes it possible to judge easier, but Akainu isn
t in his eyes nor in OP-society an evil person.
He may kill innocent people for a greater good which is without a doubt evil, but his reason is to prevent even greater evil.
Also we dont know anything about his inner conflicts, which may not justify his cruel actions, but could show that he might act this way because he sees no other way to create a better world afterall and so has to force himself as the man who has to be extreme, even when he wouldn
t like to be that way, to rescue more people than he would loose by doing nothing.
You give this example with the person killing someones child and then parent self serving justice for it. I'll describe Akainus action within that metaphor.
After loosing his beloved child parent decided to kill the killer of his child. But instead of just killing guilty person, that parent decided it would be just to kill the whole family of the killer, who didn't knew about the crime in the first place in fear, that they may somehow unintentionally help the culprit escape
I totally can sympathize actions of somebody, whose child was killed and who decide to take justice in his/her hands, even if I don't support the thing he/she did. I wouldn't judge that person evil, even if his/her act was. But if that person decided to kill innocents in order to fulfill his her goals, especially if there are other methods to deal with them being possible obstacle, then yes that person is either evil or clinically insane.
Anyone, who is intelligent enough to live independent life within society, not to mention be political leader can see the difference unless their sense of good and evil is screwed. Of course, citizens of the world don't know what really happened in Ohara, so it's justified that they see Akainu as a good guy, since he technically fights for justice, but the government knows, and they should be aware that something is no right with him.Aokiji was able to see what's wrong.
Technically, wanting to kill the killer of one loved one isn't extremism, it is extreme action, but it isn't founded by extremist world view. Extremist world view is about enforcing ones own values (usually religious, but may be also some social doctrine) on anybody else while choosing extreme means, like murders and terror, to do so. It got way beyond taking evil action from time to time. Akainu is definitely an extremist, albeit not religious one. It is a given he sees himself as good person, or at least his action as justifiable and necessary, because it's how extremist think, in opposition to those, who are willing to take extreme actions in extraordinary conditions. If a person decides to kill the killer of loved one they usually understand that they are doing a bad thing and often agree to take punishment afterwards, but that's not how Akainu is thinking.