Mankind's natural resting state is peace, not violence. The extreme majority of all humans throughout history have been peaceful, not violent 'savages.' Violence by any given individual person against another is the extreme outlier, not the common.
Historically death from war is the result of a very small percentage of the global population acting violently. It is not the result of a majority of people acting violently.
Simple proof: what percentage of the world population belonged to the side of the aggressors in WW1 or WW2?
You can apply the same premise to any historical scenario. What percentage of Cambodians were involved in the massacres committed by Pol Pot's regime? What percentage of North Koreans are involved in violently repressing their fellow North Koreans? The general answer is obvious: most North Koreans are peaceful, most Cambodians were peaceful, rather than savages.
Yes, the world is getting drastically better.
Living standards are much higher and continue to climb. Child / infant mortality is drastically lower. Our ability to treat, cure, or wipe out diseases is far beyond anything from 50 years ago. Large scale starvation is becoming extremely rare.
War between leading nations hasn't occurred in 70 years, a record likely unmatched in recorded history.
> Mankind's natural resting state is peace, not violence. The extreme majority of all humans throughout history have been peaceful, not violent 'savages.' Violence by any given individual person against another is the extreme outlier, not the common.
I wish I believed this but I'm convinced that most people are peaceful or at least non-violent because they have no other option. They do not ever find themselves in a position where they have the power to inflict violence and death on others for personal gain without risk of punishment.
I'm convinced that most people, given the right set of circumstances are capable of the most heinous acts of violence and the only thing stopping them is the power and resources to do so.
I feel like truly 'good' people are the exception, not the general rule.
Historically death from war is the result of a very small percentage of the global population acting violently. It is not the result of a majority of people acting violently.
Simple proof: what percentage of the world population belonged to the side of the aggressors in WW1 or WW2?
You can apply the same premise to any historical scenario. What percentage of Cambodians were involved in the massacres committed by Pol Pot's regime? What percentage of North Koreans are involved in violently repressing their fellow North Koreans? The general answer is obvious: most North Koreans are peaceful, most Cambodians were peaceful, rather than savages.
Yes, the world is getting drastically better.
Living standards are much higher and continue to climb. Child / infant mortality is drastically lower. Our ability to treat, cure, or wipe out diseases is far beyond anything from 50 years ago. Large scale starvation is becoming extremely rare.
War between leading nations hasn't occurred in 70 years, a record likely unmatched in recorded history.