I find the condition of man to be altogether far more complex than that. The cultural traditions of mankind has tried to capture the dilemma in various and differing myths and stories, most common to the west seems to be the Genesis story. I find that Jordan Petersen did an excellent explanation in his book “12 Rules for life” in the chapter “Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping”, whilst explaining why people tend to help others, even their pets, better than they help themselves. As a clinical psychologist, he’s found that people have a tendency to see others as more worthy, and explains that it seems that they know themselves too well because their thoughts are often very violent or otherwise malevolent. What is sometimes lacking is the understanding that everybody is carrying some burden or guilt.
On the other hand, there is a tendency to project the “evil” we discover in ourselves on to others, and interpret their behaviour in the terms of our experience with our own malevolence. We demonise the others in order to excuse ourselves for behaving in an otherwise inappropriate or even inexcusable manner. However, we know the true intent behind this projectioning, which increases the guilt but can at the same time advance to obsession or phobia. We can feel compelled to hate people we don’t even know.
There is no comparison today to the violence of the past, even in the most violent modern societies. We have learnt that it hampers our progress, but if we see no other means to progress, we will become violent. It is when people are put into situations in which they see no other way but to become violent that they do. Mostly this is done by manipulative forces, who themselves are outside of the fray, but believe they benefit from the violence of other. It that way, the condition you describe is a conditioning that we allow to rule our lives.
I can understand this coming from a man who lived when he did, living through the english civil war and being occupied with demonstrating the necessity of a strong central authority to avoid the evil of discord and the war that was going on as he wrote. However, there were those whose desire for power was restless and those who just tried to survive. Like I said above, there were always situations in which people were pushed and became instruments of others to achieve their goals.
“It is the victors who write history” is another way of saying this. It was also the privileged and wealthy.
This is true, most theologians are oblivious to how their theology sounds in the ears of the average human being. That is also true today, when evangelicals try to maintain a supposed objectivity in the Bible passages, rather than understanding that objective truth is a rather new invention. The people of biblical times were looking at everything from an experiential view and with survival in mind.
This is also true, but after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it became apparent that, unless we only want cockroaches to inhabit the earth, we should curb our “naked force”, or face the consequences. It is also true in another sense. It is violence and naked force used to change our environment which may settle whether human beings have a future here.
What can I say … ?
This is increasingly true of many people who have chosen a Huxleyian “brave new world” over the reality of existence. It is understandable if we push aside the consequences. It is interesting that Huxley foresaw that economic chaos and unemployment will cause a radical reaction in society, even it hasn’t come in the form of an international scientific empire. The reality is just as worrying, however. In many countries there is hardly any ability, let alone a readiness to protect the “brave new world” we have created.
The people who attempt to retain a balanced view are often decried as extremist by both sides, and with the amount of disinformation going about, the rise of hysteria and social media, chaos is becoming more and more a reality.
It seems by these quotes that apart from certain statements you have made, we could have an understanding.
Whilst I agree that there is a lot being done to distract people from the reality that is overtaking us, I don’t think it is the #me too movement. This is more a long overdue uprising against sexism within the working environment, most especially within the entertainment business.
The points you have made here we could take up elsewhere.