We have the means to end every form of inequality out there. We would just have to come together as world to make it happen. But no. We’re basically monkeys with nukes.
Which is why, as a species, we deserve everything coming our way.
Glad to see another person who recognizes that, at a basic level, this is something ingrained in our species. I wish I understood where greed originates within our nature and how to eliminate it, but history demonstrates that this has always and will always be part of who we are.
I think Terminator 2 put it best: We’re programmed to destroy ourselves.
That said, at least here in my own small sphere, I see some lovely examples of kindness. There’s a donut shop nearby that puts all the unsold stuff in a box at the end of the day and leaves it out for the homeless, or really, anyone that walks by and wants to take one.
You should read Mutual Aid: a Factor in Evolution by Piotr Kropotkin.
Things do not need to be this way, and it is not “in our nature”.
Survival of the fittest, i.e. individual competition, is not the only way organisms evolve (and then thrive) in the world. And that includes, but it’s not limited to, humans.
That’s how well capitalism has succeeded in making us believe its definition of human nature as a greedy creature is the only one definition. As if it is unquestionably true. Capitalism is a system that eventually destroys itself, that is what you are witnessing. Human nature is not defined as such. We are codependent rational animals, programmed for sharing and caring. Not to be greedy.
I recommend you to read Rutger Bregman’s Humankind: A Hopeful History. And David Graeber’s the Dawn of Everything.
Not that their arguments end all discussion on this. But the clear-cut definition of humans as inherently greedy creatures is also not set in stone as capitalism/liberalism likes us to believe.
It would be quite the philosophical revolution if we had a final definition of human nature. So no, we cannot say: looking at history we must conclude that humans are inherently greedy, no further discussion.
Individuals fall to temptation all the time. The issue isn’t humans, it’s the shape of our structures. If only a handful of people are the lynch pin to everything, they’re eventually gonna be corrupted by the power. Spreading the power out and not allowing it to coalesce is the answer.
The humans with spread out power weren’t bombastic, so they make for uninteresting reads of history. But those stories are out there, of communities quietly thriving in all times.
We have the means to end every form of inequality out there. We would just have to come together as world to make it happen. But no. We’re basically monkeys with nukes.
Which is why, as a species, we deserve everything coming our way.
I don’t have any nukes and i’m not a monkey, talk for yourself
A tragic misstep in evolution.
Glad to see another person who recognizes that, at a basic level, this is something ingrained in our species. I wish I understood where greed originates within our nature and how to eliminate it, but history demonstrates that this has always and will always be part of who we are.
I think Terminator 2 put it best: We’re programmed to destroy ourselves.
That said, at least here in my own small sphere, I see some lovely examples of kindness. There’s a donut shop nearby that puts all the unsold stuff in a box at the end of the day and leaves it out for the homeless, or really, anyone that walks by and wants to take one.
You should read Mutual Aid: a Factor in Evolution by Piotr Kropotkin.
Things do not need to be this way, and it is not “in our nature”.
Survival of the fittest, i.e. individual competition, is not the only way organisms evolve (and then thrive) in the world. And that includes, but it’s not limited to, humans.
That’s how well capitalism has succeeded in making us believe its definition of human nature as a greedy creature is the only one definition. As if it is unquestionably true. Capitalism is a system that eventually destroys itself, that is what you are witnessing. Human nature is not defined as such. We are codependent rational animals, programmed for sharing and caring. Not to be greedy.
I’d love to believe that, but I’ve read too many history books.
I recommend you to read Rutger Bregman’s Humankind: A Hopeful History. And David Graeber’s the Dawn of Everything.
Not that their arguments end all discussion on this. But the clear-cut definition of humans as inherently greedy creatures is also not set in stone as capitalism/liberalism likes us to believe.
It would be quite the philosophical revolution if we had a final definition of human nature. So no, we cannot say: looking at history we must conclude that humans are inherently greedy, no further discussion.
If you find that comforting, then great. Genuinely happy for you.
Individuals fall to temptation all the time. The issue isn’t humans, it’s the shape of our structures. If only a handful of people are the lynch pin to everything, they’re eventually gonna be corrupted by the power. Spreading the power out and not allowing it to coalesce is the answer.
The humans with spread out power weren’t bombastic, so they make for uninteresting reads of history. But those stories are out there, of communities quietly thriving in all times.