The Human Race is a Deeply Flawed Species
We are unlikely to stop being flawed humans any time soon
I was reading Frank T Bird’s great article: You Think You Own Your Property But You Don’t.
It talks about how nobody has a fundamental right to own any land. If you trace land ownership back through all the people who previously owned it, it starts with theft. Somebody had to first steal that land, declare it theirs, and then one day sell it to somebody else.
This is true of countries too. There’s no fundamental reason why a large area of land should be governed by a specific set of people. The formation of all modern countries involved fighting, death, domination, and stealing.
At the end of his article, Frank says:
“Ownership is a mental disease used to elevate some and oppress others. It is held in place by violence. It is not balanced, and it is a forced concept that has no basis in reality since it has to be based on an original theft. One day we will realise it’s a big fucking weight around the neck of the human race.”
Sadly, it’s human nature. In a world full of so many people, each person is fighting for a piece.
It’s like the prisoner’s dilemma or panic buying.
The only way for nobody to take more than their fair share would be if nobody took more than their fair share. All it takes is for us to think that some people will try to take more, and then we all rush out to try to get some.
Nobody wants to be the one person who doesn’t own anything.
This is what makes humans fundamentally flawed. Being a “good person” only works when everyone else is also being a good person. The moment we feel like our very survival is in jeopardy, being a good person is no longer an option.
It would be great if the human race could one day collectively wake up to being perfect. But that would mean suddenly not being human.
To be human is to be flawed. We are unlikely to stop being flawed humans any time soon.
