The Living Never Learns
Hello everyone, and happy weekend.
"War doesn't make boys men, it makes men dead"
— Ken Gillespie
Human nature is a phenomenon of particular concern. I believe all human activities revolve around human nature and its desires.
There are diverse opinions about human nature and its essential characteristics. Xun Zi says that
Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity
Mahatma Ghandi posits that
Man is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield to the influence of love
Every argument is either for or against the good or evil nature of man. If we trust the Bible, it tells us in the book of Genesis that there was “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” of which man was not suppose to eat from. But Eve, and her husband ate. And boom! Here we are still talking about the consequences.
Robert Louis Stevenson concurs that
In each one of us, two natures are at war – the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose – what we want most to be we are.
To know good and evil is to be neither good nor evil. It is to be selfish. Yes, human nature may neither be good nor evil but it is certainly selfish.
I could say that human nature is a subject of continuous study. The more we learn, the more we know. The more we know the less we understand. Humans have conquered everything in the universe but not their human nature. I guess that's why we keep repeating history, because the living never learns.
Sincerely speaking, what really causes war?
Almost every generation in human history has been at war in one way or another.
Men fight each other. Nations rise against one another. Kingdoms go to war with Kingdoms.
Over what?
At the center of all these conflicts is interest.
Yes, selfish interest.
The brute nature of man always shows up when their interest collide. No man wants to be at the receiving end of any conflict of interest. So, they'll stop at nothing, employ whatever means to get what they want or advance their interest, whether personal, economic, political, or religious.
Unfortunately, it is the elite class, the ones who wield the power and own the might who start, and fund these wars. But the ordinary people are the ones who fight and loose their lives for them.
It is a familiar pattern throughout history. Men have not really learned how to stay at peace despite all the pleas – moral, religious, and political. Power tussle, economic inequalities, social injustice, religious persuction, racism, domestic violence and human rights abuses are all indications of the selfishness of humans, and our inability to consistently stay on the good side of our human nature.
So, yeah, humans can become animalistic in spite of their conscience when their interest (or ego) is at stake.
I agree with Xun Zi, that it will require consistent intentional activity for men to avoid war and embrace social justice, and peace.
But will the living ever learn?
This is my entry for the #weekend-engagement topic:
Why do you think, after all the thousands of years of human existence, that human kind still goes to war with each other, kills and harm each other, and create even more devious ways to take advantage of and deceive each other?
Thanks for reading.