“To opine on the nature of humanity under a system that is designed to strip us of it is impossibly cynical.” I don’t know if you could have said that any better
I agree with everything said in this piece. If I may offer a palate cleanser:
My apartment building's tenant union held a rally today in support of a neighbor who is being unfairly evicted. Management is blatantly retaliating against her for being constantly outspoken about unaddressed problems in her unit and the building as a whole. We organized this rally in under a month and it went off extremely smoothly, with about 30-35 people present at the peak. It was heartening to see so many people, especially the many who do not live in the building and are not affected by these issues, willing to come out and hold signs and chant with us on a windy day in the middle of Michigan winter. We also got a visit from our city council rep as well as from residents of other properties managed by this awful company. We're hoping to build our reach and bring all those tenants into the fold as well, who are facing the same mismanagement we are.
What makes me optimistic about this is how relatively few of us it took to get this organized; We have a dedicated core of about 6 people. And we know based on their recent communications that management is aware of and afraid of us, as they've actually been timely about addressing recent issues. It doesn't take many of us to make waves.
That's great. I definitely personally feel a lot better about the world when I'm out there organizing an protesting. To see that there are still a lot of good people who care can be a powerful balm against all the ugliness that we are inundated with every day. It's important to remember there's a lot of us out there who are willing to fight for something better.
I have felt what you have written here in my soul. You just articulated it so beautifully and eloquently. I refuse to believe that we cannot be better than this because the simple truth is we already have been.
People are born into the world and mistakenly believe that this is how it’s always been and how it always will be. They do not understand that their immutable facts are only a few decades old at best. Just ask any anthropologst.
We are not hyper rational utility maximizing machines who only think of ourselves. We have never been that and we never will be. The human spirit is not something that can be conquered. Empathy cannot be snuffed out. Compassion will never be a weakness. Love is not something that only exists in a fairytale.
I have no doubt in my mind that things will get worse. That cruelty will only continue to be rewarded, but I also believe that one day justice will have its day. It may not be in my lifetime, but the corrosive will of the dominator will fall to the spirit of our collective humanity.
It's so important that we zoom out and realize that just because we are surrounded by this ugliness, it doesn't mean that's all there is or all we are. Unfortunately, it is what this system prioritizes, so it's what we see the most of. I always loved that proverb "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit" and I think we have to actively build that society ourselves, in spite of it all.
Hello -- thank you for your writings, and your acute and nuanced sensitivity and observation. I'm glad to read your sense of justice and engagement, and humor too, both hopeful and critical.
I would like to share a possibility, not in conflict with, but as an alongside, like a quieter voice, or the way that birds exist in an urban landscape.
It's possible to lose, to participate in meaningful struggles that fail, collectively and individually. Utopia is fragile and transient by definition, as songs of birds. It makes it no less meaningful.
This may not be contradictory or detrimental to resistance, of discovering and furthering alternatives. It may be a way of sustaining wonder and a reserve of vitality, that can be called on during strife and tragedy.
Systemic understandings and structural knowledge are foundational. Also essential, and universal, is surprise. Surprise is a foundation of joy, as elemental as air or sea. Even within oppressions, brief, sometimes wordless.
These things are difficult to say, share, or point toward, still (for me) they are meaningful, and ripple into safeties, bridges, brightnesses, comfortable darknesses. I think they are all around you no matter where you are.
Wonderful writing, I love your thoughts on human nature. I am usually cynical, but still I like to think that many people recognize the barbarity of the way we live, but simply see no alternative. If we present people with a real alternative, a way to provide for everyone’s needs and dignity, I think many would embrace it.
Hopelessness is exactly what our ruling class wants us to feel, so we must reject it.
Absolutely. I also think that this system is really good at invisibilizing the barbarism of daily life. We see a random stabbing and know that's bad, but the boring and banal death via spreadsheet is so normal to us that we don't even really recognize it as violence. Humans can get used to a lot, and I think if you took someone from some future collectivist society and plopped them into ours, they would be endlessly horrified by the shit we put up with and don't even see half the time. When I first started to learn about capitalism and socialism, I suddenly became unable to un-see the myriad ways we are abused in this system. It was visible everywhere. I feel like step one is to remove the veil so people can see what this system really is for themselves.
It's definitely hard not to feel overwhelmed by the current state of affairs. Every single day is just another wave of horrifying news from across the globe, so I don't fault people for feeling the way that they do, but I couldn't agree more with what you speak to at the heart of this piece Scarlet. I don't subscribe to the idea that humanity is inherently and objectively cruel -- destined to oppress and dominate others as we spin around on this rock we call a planet. I've discussed this a lot with folks before, and it always makes me sad how often people will say that it's just "human nature" that has brought us to where we are -- never once engaging with the idea that maybe the socioeconomic structure that surrounds us (and its prioritized incentive structure) has something to do with it. Your beautifully written and well articulated quote here emphasizes that perfectly:
"Is what we think of as “human nature” really our nature at all or just the result of what we nurture?"
You did a fantastic job of describing how predatory and toxic capitalism can be, and how that impacts people in a variety of different ways (notably the political structure we've been saddled with, and its countless ramifications). What we choose to nurture and prioritize is always going to play a massive role in how our society takes shape and functions -- trickling down into how humans behave, respond and contemplate. I especially loved your highlighting of "primitive communism" as a way to demonstrate that humans haven't always behaved the way they do now, and that what we prioritize from a societal standpoint can play a sizable role in dictating human behavior. Humans are more malleable to their surroundings than many might believe, and your highlighting of road rage is such a good encapsulation of that point. Another quote of yours that I really loved in this piece is this:
"To opine on the nature of humanity under a system that is designed to strip us of it is impossibly cynical. We don’t know what people would be like in the world I just described, but I don’t think they’d be like they are now."
I like to believe that if we stopped telling people that wishing for a better world is "impossible in practice because of human nature", then we could start taking those meaningful steps towards realizing that better world. There are countless examples across all of human history (continuing today as well) that show us that we don't have to subject ourselves to this cruel reality, and can return to what I believe to be the true roots of humanity. Humans are an incredibly social species and we tend to thrive when we work together for the betterment of each other, and I'll always believe in the goodness that exists within all of us. We just need to tap into it more to begin the process of building that better world for us all.
You are absolutely nailing these pieces Scarlet! Thank you again for providing incredibly thoughtful and insightful reads with each and every topic you choose to explore!
It gets to me a lot, the inhumanity that people seem so proud of. It genuinely depresses me to think, for example, of people who openly rejoice in rivers of blood in Gaza, and will never see any kind of consequence for it. It becomes really hard to not become cynical when you see this sort of thing, and it's truly frightening to see people abandon their own humanity, but if you take a step back you see that this sort of sociopathy is never punished and worse, often rewarded under this system. Being maladjusted and antisocial should have some sort of social consequence but it never does. If we actually saw the human experiment as a living breathing thing that we all take part in, we would never tolerate it. So while there are people who are probably beyond redemption, I just don't think that's most of us. I think that what you give attention to grows, and this society rewards antisocial behavior, anti-human behavior, more than the behavior that would benefit the wellbeing of us all. I'll always be an optimist when it comes to the human spirit.
Yeah, it's no easy feat pushing back against it, and preventing it from consuming us entirely. I can't tell you how radicalizing it's been to watch these people openly cheer on the IOF as they commit genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, while world leaders like Joe Biden and potentially Benjamin Netanyahu will never once have to answer for their crimes. It's a cruel world and structure that was ultimately built and is maintained by cruel people. So little justice and accountability exists - we can see it playing out in the Luigi Mangione case, as well as the disparities between "justice" carried out for the wealthy, and "justice" for the rest of us. I fully agree with your point about the human experiment. It encompasses all of us, and requires all of us to maintain that social contract. Instead of treating it like a living breathing thing, we treat it like a transactional business, causing so many people to fall through the cracks. We have to shift our attention, priorities and focus towards growing and fostering that behavior that benefits the well-being of us all, and I believe that starts with tapping into the goodness that the human spirit has always had, and will always continue to have.
Nihilism and despair are incredibly seductive. I appreciate how well you can articulate the ugliness and evil of our society while still choosing to be optimistic. There's a kind of paranoia that comes from seeing people and media that can only find optimism by denying or glossing over the very real horrors we're witnessing, and your ability to acknowledge what we're all struggling with while not giving in to cynicism is something we need more of. It makes me feel sane even as the world is overflowing with madness.
Thank you for your words. There's definitely this sort of phony "joy is resistance" crap that feels more like a poor attempt to paper over injustice than any actual will to achieve it. It almost feels like self-help nonsense. We don't have to deny reality to be optimistic about human nature, we don't have to lie to ourselves or say positive affirmations. We can acknowledge that the monsters are among us, and also realize that if society was structured differently, humans wouldn't turn into monsters so easily.
My parents also gave me the old "communism is a nice idea but impossible in practice because of human nature" response. As if it's childish to want to build society on the foundations of a beautiful idea. Yet that's exactly what's done with the word "democracy" even as our portion of same is watered down to the thinnest gruel possible. What's the beautiful philosophy behind capitalism? You really made me feel less alone with this, to an almost uncanny extent.
I think it's easy to decide there's some innateness to the way people behave under this system, but it's so wrongheaded. We are constantly incentivized to be the worst versions of ourselves and rarely rewarded for our virtue. The world they've created for us is immeasurably cruel and we are constantly fighting for our lives, our better angels barely stand a chance. If we didn't have everyone hanging on by a thread and our incentives were different, I think we would barely be recognizable as a species. Thanks for reading!
The idea that capitalism is in a late stage goes back to 1928. People have been saying its in a late stage for 97 years now. I disagree- I agree with D&G that the "flows are not yet deterritorialized enough". Evidence? Recent advanced in AI, Cybernetics, Quantum, Energy, all driven by capitalists doing capitalism, not socialists doing socialism. The obstacle to the future isn't capitalism - it's socialism. The only way you can rollback the process is to limit yourself and your social group- but others will choose not to, for whatever reason. Nature vs nuture doesn't matter when there's always an Outside that can invade.
'Recent advancement' is not 'capitalism doing capitalism', its driven by human effort. The economic system that dominates our world is interested in innovation where profit exists, or creates markets for them, rather than advancement of the human race or planetary survival. The competitive conditions held aloft by capitalists as the heroic driver of innovation is an incomplete picture, it does in fact stymie our full potential.
“To opine on the nature of humanity under a system that is designed to strip us of it is impossibly cynical.” I don’t know if you could have said that any better
I agree with everything said in this piece. If I may offer a palate cleanser:
My apartment building's tenant union held a rally today in support of a neighbor who is being unfairly evicted. Management is blatantly retaliating against her for being constantly outspoken about unaddressed problems in her unit and the building as a whole. We organized this rally in under a month and it went off extremely smoothly, with about 30-35 people present at the peak. It was heartening to see so many people, especially the many who do not live in the building and are not affected by these issues, willing to come out and hold signs and chant with us on a windy day in the middle of Michigan winter. We also got a visit from our city council rep as well as from residents of other properties managed by this awful company. We're hoping to build our reach and bring all those tenants into the fold as well, who are facing the same mismanagement we are.
What makes me optimistic about this is how relatively few of us it took to get this organized; We have a dedicated core of about 6 people. And we know based on their recent communications that management is aware of and afraid of us, as they've actually been timely about addressing recent issues. It doesn't take many of us to make waves.
That's great. I definitely personally feel a lot better about the world when I'm out there organizing an protesting. To see that there are still a lot of good people who care can be a powerful balm against all the ugliness that we are inundated with every day. It's important to remember there's a lot of us out there who are willing to fight for something better.
I have felt what you have written here in my soul. You just articulated it so beautifully and eloquently. I refuse to believe that we cannot be better than this because the simple truth is we already have been.
People are born into the world and mistakenly believe that this is how it’s always been and how it always will be. They do not understand that their immutable facts are only a few decades old at best. Just ask any anthropologst.
We are not hyper rational utility maximizing machines who only think of ourselves. We have never been that and we never will be. The human spirit is not something that can be conquered. Empathy cannot be snuffed out. Compassion will never be a weakness. Love is not something that only exists in a fairytale.
I have no doubt in my mind that things will get worse. That cruelty will only continue to be rewarded, but I also believe that one day justice will have its day. It may not be in my lifetime, but the corrosive will of the dominator will fall to the spirit of our collective humanity.
It's so important that we zoom out and realize that just because we are surrounded by this ugliness, it doesn't mean that's all there is or all we are. Unfortunately, it is what this system prioritizes, so it's what we see the most of. I always loved that proverb "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit" and I think we have to actively build that society ourselves, in spite of it all.
Hello -- thank you for your writings, and your acute and nuanced sensitivity and observation. I'm glad to read your sense of justice and engagement, and humor too, both hopeful and critical.
I would like to share a possibility, not in conflict with, but as an alongside, like a quieter voice, or the way that birds exist in an urban landscape.
It's possible to lose, to participate in meaningful struggles that fail, collectively and individually. Utopia is fragile and transient by definition, as songs of birds. It makes it no less meaningful.
This may not be contradictory or detrimental to resistance, of discovering and furthering alternatives. It may be a way of sustaining wonder and a reserve of vitality, that can be called on during strife and tragedy.
Systemic understandings and structural knowledge are foundational. Also essential, and universal, is surprise. Surprise is a foundation of joy, as elemental as air or sea. Even within oppressions, brief, sometimes wordless.
These things are difficult to say, share, or point toward, still (for me) they are meaningful, and ripple into safeties, bridges, brightnesses, comfortable darknesses. I think they are all around you no matter where you are.
For me, in words, I often read Kafka.
Wishing you a good day.
This is a magnificent article. Thank you so much!
Wonderful writing, I love your thoughts on human nature. I am usually cynical, but still I like to think that many people recognize the barbarity of the way we live, but simply see no alternative. If we present people with a real alternative, a way to provide for everyone’s needs and dignity, I think many would embrace it.
Hopelessness is exactly what our ruling class wants us to feel, so we must reject it.
Absolutely. I also think that this system is really good at invisibilizing the barbarism of daily life. We see a random stabbing and know that's bad, but the boring and banal death via spreadsheet is so normal to us that we don't even really recognize it as violence. Humans can get used to a lot, and I think if you took someone from some future collectivist society and plopped them into ours, they would be endlessly horrified by the shit we put up with and don't even see half the time. When I first started to learn about capitalism and socialism, I suddenly became unable to un-see the myriad ways we are abused in this system. It was visible everywhere. I feel like step one is to remove the veil so people can see what this system really is for themselves.
Like the Norwegian poet Jan Erik Vold once wrote: Everything is hopeless and we won’t give up! (My translation)
It's definitely hard not to feel overwhelmed by the current state of affairs. Every single day is just another wave of horrifying news from across the globe, so I don't fault people for feeling the way that they do, but I couldn't agree more with what you speak to at the heart of this piece Scarlet. I don't subscribe to the idea that humanity is inherently and objectively cruel -- destined to oppress and dominate others as we spin around on this rock we call a planet. I've discussed this a lot with folks before, and it always makes me sad how often people will say that it's just "human nature" that has brought us to where we are -- never once engaging with the idea that maybe the socioeconomic structure that surrounds us (and its prioritized incentive structure) has something to do with it. Your beautifully written and well articulated quote here emphasizes that perfectly:
"Is what we think of as “human nature” really our nature at all or just the result of what we nurture?"
You did a fantastic job of describing how predatory and toxic capitalism can be, and how that impacts people in a variety of different ways (notably the political structure we've been saddled with, and its countless ramifications). What we choose to nurture and prioritize is always going to play a massive role in how our society takes shape and functions -- trickling down into how humans behave, respond and contemplate. I especially loved your highlighting of "primitive communism" as a way to demonstrate that humans haven't always behaved the way they do now, and that what we prioritize from a societal standpoint can play a sizable role in dictating human behavior. Humans are more malleable to their surroundings than many might believe, and your highlighting of road rage is such a good encapsulation of that point. Another quote of yours that I really loved in this piece is this:
"To opine on the nature of humanity under a system that is designed to strip us of it is impossibly cynical. We don’t know what people would be like in the world I just described, but I don’t think they’d be like they are now."
I like to believe that if we stopped telling people that wishing for a better world is "impossible in practice because of human nature", then we could start taking those meaningful steps towards realizing that better world. There are countless examples across all of human history (continuing today as well) that show us that we don't have to subject ourselves to this cruel reality, and can return to what I believe to be the true roots of humanity. Humans are an incredibly social species and we tend to thrive when we work together for the betterment of each other, and I'll always believe in the goodness that exists within all of us. We just need to tap into it more to begin the process of building that better world for us all.
You are absolutely nailing these pieces Scarlet! Thank you again for providing incredibly thoughtful and insightful reads with each and every topic you choose to explore!
It gets to me a lot, the inhumanity that people seem so proud of. It genuinely depresses me to think, for example, of people who openly rejoice in rivers of blood in Gaza, and will never see any kind of consequence for it. It becomes really hard to not become cynical when you see this sort of thing, and it's truly frightening to see people abandon their own humanity, but if you take a step back you see that this sort of sociopathy is never punished and worse, often rewarded under this system. Being maladjusted and antisocial should have some sort of social consequence but it never does. If we actually saw the human experiment as a living breathing thing that we all take part in, we would never tolerate it. So while there are people who are probably beyond redemption, I just don't think that's most of us. I think that what you give attention to grows, and this society rewards antisocial behavior, anti-human behavior, more than the behavior that would benefit the wellbeing of us all. I'll always be an optimist when it comes to the human spirit.
Yeah, it's no easy feat pushing back against it, and preventing it from consuming us entirely. I can't tell you how radicalizing it's been to watch these people openly cheer on the IOF as they commit genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, while world leaders like Joe Biden and potentially Benjamin Netanyahu will never once have to answer for their crimes. It's a cruel world and structure that was ultimately built and is maintained by cruel people. So little justice and accountability exists - we can see it playing out in the Luigi Mangione case, as well as the disparities between "justice" carried out for the wealthy, and "justice" for the rest of us. I fully agree with your point about the human experiment. It encompasses all of us, and requires all of us to maintain that social contract. Instead of treating it like a living breathing thing, we treat it like a transactional business, causing so many people to fall through the cracks. We have to shift our attention, priorities and focus towards growing and fostering that behavior that benefits the well-being of us all, and I believe that starts with tapping into the goodness that the human spirit has always had, and will always continue to have.
I share your rejection of cynicism and appreciate this essay very much
Thank you!
Nihilism and despair are incredibly seductive. I appreciate how well you can articulate the ugliness and evil of our society while still choosing to be optimistic. There's a kind of paranoia that comes from seeing people and media that can only find optimism by denying or glossing over the very real horrors we're witnessing, and your ability to acknowledge what we're all struggling with while not giving in to cynicism is something we need more of. It makes me feel sane even as the world is overflowing with madness.
Thank you for your words. There's definitely this sort of phony "joy is resistance" crap that feels more like a poor attempt to paper over injustice than any actual will to achieve it. It almost feels like self-help nonsense. We don't have to deny reality to be optimistic about human nature, we don't have to lie to ourselves or say positive affirmations. We can acknowledge that the monsters are among us, and also realize that if society was structured differently, humans wouldn't turn into monsters so easily.
Nice read. I love Aaron too. His art, politics, and podcasts are on point.
He’s the best. That tweet has stuck with me for a long time.
Beautifully said.
My parents also gave me the old "communism is a nice idea but impossible in practice because of human nature" response. As if it's childish to want to build society on the foundations of a beautiful idea. Yet that's exactly what's done with the word "democracy" even as our portion of same is watered down to the thinnest gruel possible. What's the beautiful philosophy behind capitalism? You really made me feel less alone with this, to an almost uncanny extent.
I think it's easy to decide there's some innateness to the way people behave under this system, but it's so wrongheaded. We are constantly incentivized to be the worst versions of ourselves and rarely rewarded for our virtue. The world they've created for us is immeasurably cruel and we are constantly fighting for our lives, our better angels barely stand a chance. If we didn't have everyone hanging on by a thread and our incentives were different, I think we would barely be recognizable as a species. Thanks for reading!
Thanks for writing!
The idea that capitalism is in a late stage goes back to 1928. People have been saying its in a late stage for 97 years now. I disagree- I agree with D&G that the "flows are not yet deterritorialized enough". Evidence? Recent advanced in AI, Cybernetics, Quantum, Energy, all driven by capitalists doing capitalism, not socialists doing socialism. The obstacle to the future isn't capitalism - it's socialism. The only way you can rollback the process is to limit yourself and your social group- but others will choose not to, for whatever reason. Nature vs nuture doesn't matter when there's always an Outside that can invade.
'Recent advancement' is not 'capitalism doing capitalism', its driven by human effort. The economic system that dominates our world is interested in innovation where profit exists, or creates markets for them, rather than advancement of the human race or planetary survival. The competitive conditions held aloft by capitalists as the heroic driver of innovation is an incomplete picture, it does in fact stymie our full potential.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-149986086