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[Mizhara]

The monkeysphere isn't exactly big news. It's that it's welcomed with open arms instead of something to surpass that's the reason the apocalypse sounds rather inviting. The only alternative to blaming humanity is to actually accept things like the crap in Dubai and other places as inevitable or right. That is, no matter what, not acceptable. Ever.

Especially when you can point at actually civilized countries (that pretty much means some of Europe... maybe Canada) as examples where that kind of crap does not happen without serious repercussions. Frankly, if we up here in the frozen north can pull this shit off, so can the rest of the world. There's just no fucking excuse.

[Lyn Farel]

Im not even approaching this thread with a 42 meters lenght pole considering the reactions ive seen so far.

[Aria Jenneth]

The only alternative to blaming humanity is to actually accept things like the crap in Dubai and other places as inevitable or right. That is, no matter what, not acceptable. Ever.

Especially when you can point at actually civilized countries (that pretty much means some of Europe... maybe Canada) as examples where that kind of crap does not happen without serious repercussions. Frankly, if we up here in the frozen north can pull this shit off, so can the rest of the world. There's just no fucking excuse.

There is another option.

Humanity's behavior in these matters is not quite inevitable, just damned close to it. One aspect of human nature is the tendency to dehumanize the "other," to define those outside one's circle of regard, whether originally or placed, as unworthy of being treated well. It's how we justify harming others, a way in which we prepare ourselves psychologically for vicious action. Casting blame, particularly of the utterly condemning variety, is just another method of doing this.

But we can be ruled by our own better angels. We can see what violence and conflict does, and choose to avoid walking the paths that lead to it, however justified they may seem.

It's always seemed to me that Europe has peace and civilization, now, to the degree that it has it, primarily because it has seen enough of strife. The same pattern in China (during the Warring States period) contributed greatly to the spread of Taoism, which places moderation, humility, and compassion as the duties of humanity.

That is the alternative. You need not accept, but neither need you cast blame. It's an easy flip to make: a badger is born a badger, a human a human. We're victims of our own damned biology, and the greatest monsters of history, when not simply damaged, have generally been those who believed most passionately in some cause their oversized brains cooked up for them.

Inevitable? Not entirely. But it is hard to teach a tribal ape to accept all humanity as part of its tribe.

Hard, but well worth the effort.

[Kaleigh Doyle]

Sometimes we as a species try to separate ourselves from nature, as though we are an anomaly or external from the animal kingdom. Civilization and organized society tends to curb these behaviors, and we often forget that evolution takes time. Violence, war, and other barbarity will continue to exist as long as it serves a useful function in accomplishing our goals.