We're often told
it is "human nature" to be greedy, and that this is why our
world is the way it is. The very existence of other societies and other
ways of life contradicts this. Once you realize that modern capitalist
society is only one of a thousand ways that human beings have lived and
interacted together, you can see that this talk of "human nature"
is nonsense. We are formed first and foremost by the environments we grow
up in - and human beings now have the power to construct our own environments.
If we are ambitious enough, we can design our world to reconstruct us
in any shape our hearts desire. Yes, all of us are haunted by feelings
of greed and aggression, living as we do in a materialistic and violent
world. But in more supportive environments, built on different values,
we could learn to interact in ways that would bring more pleasure to all
of us. Indeed, most of us would be far more generous and considerate today
if we could be - it's hard to give gifts freely in a world where you have
to sell a part of yourself away in order to get anything at all. Considering
that, it's amazing how many gifts we still give each other.
From Days of War,
Nights of Love
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