Humans are Terrible (The Eristocracy, Pt. 1)

[tyrannosaurus vex]

HUMANITY. At a fundamental level, we have always understood what we are: chaotic creatures prone to obsession and violence, showing kindness only when it is convenient or rewarded, and self-interested to a fault. Individually, we are dangerous; collectively, we are absolutely wild and brutish. Among all the animals on our planet, we stand out as the most rabidly untamed, the quickest to make war, and the least concerned with our own survival. We will find a way to compromise and corrupt every system we become a part of, whether it is government, religion, or Thursday night bridge clubs. Every endeavor we begin is marked by in-fighting and pack mentality; our history is recorded less in terms of what happens than by the continuous strife to determine who is in charge.

As our history has progressed, we have become more and more separated from other animals on Earth. Our social and technological development has outpaced our evolutionary progress; traits that served our ancestors well in more "natural" environments have been carried down to modern generations and have resulted in social discontent and political upheaval. Our competition is no longer with beasts, but with other people; but that has no effect on our tendency to form packs and herds and to fight those we see as a threat over resources. We treat one another, ultimately, like wolves fighting over a kill, determining a social pecking order ranging from those who eat first to those who are left to starve.

Whatever good things Humanity may be capable of, it should be understood that in the first place we are animals, and our objective is to amass as much power and influence as we can before we die. This is the driving motivation behind everything we do: we work to generate wealth in order to maintain a (hopefully growing) set of resources; we fuck in order to fill the gene pool with as many copies of ourselves as possible, in order to magnify our personal grip on history (or, I suppose, just to fuck); we form armies and make war, and we cheat the pizza delivery guy out of an honest tip.

ALL OF THIS IS GOOD.

Or, at least, it is reality. Systems of government throughout history have made the fatal mistake of ignoring these basic tendencies of the Human animal, opting instead for the belief that Humans are basically decent and intrinsically nice. Horse shit. We are mean, petty, vindictive, rude, ignorant, and stupid. We may have shining moments when we achieve a modicum of respectability in action or intent, but these are but lonely peaks standing above the sea of Human mediocrity and depravity. Any effective system of government that hopes to enhance our nobility as a species must at least acknowledge the baser elements of our collective psyche, or fall prey to them eventually.

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

So should it recognize them and try and stifle them or snuff them out, or should it embrace them and give them a proper outlet?

[Adios]

Excellent post.

Civilization is a myth. We are indeed vicious carnivores.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

So it should it recognize them and try and stifle them or snuff them out, or should it embrace them and give them a proper outlet?

That's in Pt. 2.