Human Nature

[Ivan Denisovich]

@Ivan Denisovich

I think you'll find that the pressure is often on those politicians to engage in those conflicts.  Your frivolities probably pay some third worlders wages somewhere...and there would be no wage whatsoever without it....not that this helps them to be less hungry, as you note.  Hunger is definitely a human problem, and one which highlights our potential for apathy and exhaustion, especially at a distance.  I certainly wouldn't point to hunger or to conflict as proof of mans good nature.  Those are, I think, on the opposite ends of our nature, and examples of things which we do under duress, and which create a vicious cycle of duress.  I think it should go without saying that hungry people in conflict zones do not make great decisions.  None of us do under those circumstances.  As far as the wests ability to end conflict.,..the american century has been remarkably peaceful.  That looks to be coming to an end.  With that end will come the end of an amount of money already spent on charity just in the united states which could feed the world ten to two times over depending on who you ask and how a good diet is defined.  That itself does (and would do) alot to end conflicts...but we'll still find other reasons to fight.  We make them up when we have to.  

Yes, I think we're generally good natured..but we're still the most dangerous animals on this rock.  If aliens came here on safari it wouldn't be to watch lions anymore than we go to a lion hunt to watch mice.

I disagree. As far as I am concerned humans good nature is just fairy tale some of us tell to themselves to feel better. Wars, hunger, poverty... nothing about it speaks about bipedal animal being good natured. It's uncaring, selfish and apathetic at best even if it is capable of compassion and mercy.

Similar to my response to Ivan, we'd find that the reason this set of circumstances is in effect is not because human beings are generally shitty...but that a vanishing fraction of a fraction of us definitely are shitty in specific ways.  This is actually something were my opinion and yours probably mesh.  Because we're not all monsters, we have trouble anticipating monstrous individuals, or responding to them in kind.  Why are we not literally eating the rich right now, eh?

If humans would actually be good then this vanishing fraction would be only capable of dreaming about their dastardly deeds. Genocidal, warmongering or evil in some lesser way politicians aren't conjured from thin air, people vote on them and they vote on them because just like biblical god (which coincidentally is another genocidal figure that is widely worshipped) they want to have politicians in their own likeness and in their own image. Those voting for likes of trump, orban or kaczynski aren't poor, misguided darlings. They're fascists, though often too dumb or cowardly to identify so.