Posted by Toph on March 24, 2007, at 8:51:35
Animals pursue the fulfillment of their basic needs for food, to procreate and defend their territory often with brutal efficiency guided by instincts honed over the ages. Man with his relatively immense, sophisticated brain has more choice in his conduct as parental and societal norms create individual values and personality. These traits contribute to the formation of a conscience that mitigates between primitive urges to rape, attack and steal and conflicting acquired moral directives. Societies collectively develop cultural mores of conduct and establish institutions to enforce these beliefs and correct aberrant individual members. Countries are as diverse as man, some with complicated and rapidly evolving cultural, academic, philosophic, legal and economic traditions - others have more ancient institutions and beliefs. Nations need to develop a collective conscience to ward against their leaders acting out on their primitive impulse to rape, attack and plunder the territories of other cultures in the course of fulfilling their own needs. Powerful countries like powerful men, cannot act with animal instinct when threatened or hungry for food or warmth. Powerful governments lacking conscience, acting primarily out of self-interest, with disregard and disrespect for the sovereignty and diversity of others need to be harnessed by their populace and the world community.
poster:Toph
thread:743642
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20070312/msgs/743642.html