07-05-2020, 10:39 AM
I tend to see things from a more materialistic perspective, but arrive at pretty much the same place. I can approve of what your essay attempts to say.
From my perspective, man has two sets of conflicting drives bred into his mind and spirit. One is to treat members of his tribe well. The other is to treat a competing tribe absurdly poorly. The goal ought to be to treat more people well, fewer to no people poorly. There is no real need for the other tribes not to be a null set.
For most of human existence, violence and treating the other poorly were survival traits. Doing horrible things well increased the chance of passing on one’s gene pool. If your culture was not good at making war, at securing a territory and resources, one lost out to another culture that was better at these things. At the same time, helping one’s own tribe cooperate, grow and love was also a survival trait. Thus, Man in a contradictory beast, quite able to love and hate, and not yet able to outgrow the hate.
What to do about it? Once in a life time one is apt to live through a crisis heart. It is a chance to get rid of a few more cultural traits left from the bad old days intent to harm the other guy, to keep him other rather than one of us.
This is one of those times.
From my perspective, man has two sets of conflicting drives bred into his mind and spirit. One is to treat members of his tribe well. The other is to treat a competing tribe absurdly poorly. The goal ought to be to treat more people well, fewer to no people poorly. There is no real need for the other tribes not to be a null set.
For most of human existence, violence and treating the other poorly were survival traits. Doing horrible things well increased the chance of passing on one’s gene pool. If your culture was not good at making war, at securing a territory and resources, one lost out to another culture that was better at these things. At the same time, helping one’s own tribe cooperate, grow and love was also a survival trait. Thus, Man in a contradictory beast, quite able to love and hate, and not yet able to outgrow the hate.
What to do about it? Once in a life time one is apt to live through a crisis heart. It is a chance to get rid of a few more cultural traits left from the bad old days intent to harm the other guy, to keep him other rather than one of us.
This is one of those times.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.