"There is a good deal of the yahoo in every gang of adolescents that goes berserk, whatever their color(sic)"
Jonathan Swift Gulliver's Travels(1726)
The quote rings a bell when I ponder over the misfortunes that "man"kind ends up inviting on itself on a remarkably regular and consistent basis. ... be it ignoring the climate crisis or orchestrating and fanning strifes in various corners of the world for selfish reasons or planned or random acts of violence...
The scale on which such issues come up poses a question to my mind ...
Is it human to be so selfish or is it a standard deviation?
I know reducing the problem to selfishness is very simplistic yet it could also be the key... we are all born selfish... the values of sharing and giving are instilled in us during our rite of passage into the adult world...
A child learns to share and give while trying to protect herself/himself from a perceived danger that is displeasing the parents... she/he learns the first lessons of moral responsibilty at this young stage...Yet the basis of this very act of learning is a selfish urge to protect oneself...
and no I am not a misanthrope ...au contraire ....
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