“If we are to
achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must
recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a
less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift
will find a fitting place.” – Margaret Mead
If everyone were
aggressive, fights would be constant and nothing would get done.
Many of the
aggressive power seekers in our modern world don't recognize this. To
them, anyone who isn't aggressive is weak, lesser. Thus the tribes, our
societies, are broken.
Is this an
inevitable outcome of human aggressiveness? We seem to be one of the
most violent creatures on the planet. Certainly the most violent
among the mammals. Chimps are perhaps closest. They have inter-tribal
battles. They're willing to commit genocide. Other predators are
sometimes violent, but in a limited way. Males don't usually kill
females. They kill males and young so their genes dominate. Or they
kill for territory.
Most creatures compete for resources and reproduction. Expand territory, kill others, acquire
mates. Thank you DNA, not! Weirdly, it isn't just DNA. Viruses are a collection of proteins, yet they're driven to reproduce. Why?
Margaret Meade is also to have
expressed the sentiment that she had done her duty by
bearing and raising children, passing on her DNA. After that, her life was her own. In other words our whole purpose for existing is reproduction.
Our societies are
broken at least partly because the powerful don't recognize the value
of non-aggressive members. If everyone tries to be a chief, who will
take care of the tribe? Arguably, a tribe can thrive without a chief.
There are other forms of governance. It can't survive without
caregivers.
And yet societies
can survive based entirely on violence and slavery, e.g. the Taliban.
We don't call their people slaves, but in fact they are. Conform or
die. Follow orders or die. Try to leave, you die. Slavery.
Russia: conform or
die, follow orders or die. Slavery.
Syria: conform or
die, follow orders or die, More slavery.