So I got to thinking about something today

[Separation]

I had mistakenly taken the apathy of, to the deaths of Syrians, Iraqis, and others to some sort of racism. I got to thinking of WWII, and the complete and total war, that Europe waged on each other. It doesnt have anything to do with race. Humans dont just have much empathy to other humans. The firebombings of Dresden, the indiscriminate bombings of London, and other European cities throughout the war.

I hope our children are paying attention.

[RKP5637]

1. I hope to hell this species doesn't eventually colonize other planets. Humans need to

be confined to earth, which they are destroying. And they kill each other off. WTF...

[vlyons]

2. We see others as "other"

as "they, them, those." From the Buddhist perspective, we think with a dualistic mind of object - subject, us - them. We are not taught that we've all interconnected. We all live together on the same planet. We are not deeply taught from childhood to be motivated to generate compassion for others.

[Separation]

4. Dang

I Think that line of thinking is gonna have me look into Buhdism some. 👍🏻

[appalachiablue]

3. If the basic nature of humans isn't clear by now, someone's

living under rocks. The pursuit of resources and property, aggression and self interest have and will always be the dominant motivator in humans.

[Separation]

5. People sure do like to pretend otherwise

Or is that part of human nature too?

[appalachiablue]

8. Humans are able to justify, ignore and deny many negatives.

[KT2000]

9. Self interest yes, but aggression

is separate I believe. Ex., the R's believe they are meeting their self interest by excluding others and securing everything for themselves. They arm themselves for their own safety in their competitive, aggressive world.

The D's believe they are meeting self interest by making sure the society serves all and therefore mitigates the possibility of aggression and fear.

Overly simplified but I believe this is the basic difference.

[JayhawkSD]

12. Oh, please.

Who bombed Libya into failed state status?

I'm a Democrat, but let's not be kidding ourselves.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Nature, given enough time, has ways to evolve controls for aggressive species...

It seems in the short amount of time we've been around the only control for us is ourselves.

Racism is only one aspect of our tribalism. Just like honeybees and chimpanzees, we our own hives and tribes from outsiders.

[KT2000]

7. we are protecting ourselves with myths

there comes a time in many peoples' lives where lack of empathy from friends and family is tested and comes up short. People with chronic illnesses that are not well understood learn this lesson. A show of empathy has an expiration date - about 3 months. Then the chronically ill are left behind by some. Same can be said for people grieving the loss of a loved one for an extended period.

That people in close proximity can do this, speaks volumes about countries that regard other countries as enemies. Not much mercy.

[Separation]

10. As said above

Its probably an evolutionary failsafe.

After edit: I misunderstood above post. I guess I'm saying it can be used as an evolutionary failsafe for the human species

[CaptainTruth]

11. I understand... it's like some people don't care about their fellow human beings.

I truly cannot understand that ... we're all on this same planet together.

[MicaelS]

13. It's tribalism, and I think it is hardwired into us.

One can take either an evolutionary viewpoint, or a biblical viewpoint. People evolved / started in small groups, and thus was born the Us v Them mindset. I am not saying it is impossible to change, I just think it is very hard for many to do so.