I agree. And to those (some of whom I've met IRL, sigh) who'd say that the cut-throat, "dog eat dog," hyper-capitalist way of life is just natural for humans and therefore not only the way we are but the way we should be (!), there are more than a few instances of humans who figured out that humans do not have to operate like that. Europeans who came to the Western hemisphere observed one of the east coast tribes (Mohawk or Huron maybe?) who required the chief or elder of their tribe to frequently give gifts to other members in order to prove that his power wasn't turning him too greedy.
And old writings found in Spain written by a Catholic priest who had spent some time in Mexico or Central America with the conquistadors in the 1500s told how he and the others conquered a hunter/gatherer tribe and decided that a way they could "civilize" this "savage" tribe was to teach its boys how to play soccer.
The native boys were already playing a game like soccer--in fact, historians think that there were some people in Central or South American, the Olmecs IIRC, who were playing a complicated game like soccer with tournaments and all while Europeans were still sitting in the mud staring up at the sun and saying "Wow, big light! Ow, eyes hurt!"--and played a game for the Spanish. The Spanish said the boys were playing it wrong because the score was tied when they stopped the game.
The native dads explained that they had their boys play the game long enough for all or most of the boys to get at least pleasantly tired and for both of the teams to be ahead an equal number of times to the other team because that what make them feel good about themselves and for both of the teams to also be losing an equal number of times because that would build character and learn how to work harder.
And when the dads figured it was about an equal number of times for both winning and losing for both teams, they'd wait for the score to be tied and say, "Okay, boys, that's enough for today. Good game." Because, they told the Spanish, "You know how competitive these young boys can get. So this'll teach them how to learn to channel and control that."
Welp! The Spanish were horrified by how "savage" that was, "OMG! That's not how the real world works!" It was how the real world was working apparently just fine for these people 'till the Europeans showed up, sigh.
I respectfully disagree. I think what changed Europe after WWII was the horror of WWII.
We don't understand this here in 'Murica because our cities were not bombed to smithereens like Berlin, London, many other cities in Germany, and we didn't have Death Camps to unload in America. We had internment camps, those were evil and unconstitutional enough, but they were not death factories.
We lost Pearl Harbor to bombing, but can you imagine what a different place the U.S. would have become if NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, etc. had been blown to bits from 1941 to '45 by enemy forces? We'd be a much more sober people, I think.
Example: There was a big earthquake in 1971 in the suburbs of Los Angeles. It destroyed two hospitals, a few freeways, and caused much more property damage. Killed 69 people, I believe, and the death toll would have been much higher if it had not happened at 6:00 a.m. That earthquake fundamentally changed building codes in L.A. and California.
It took something very bad to make a good public policy change happen.
IMO, good society is created and sustained by legislation. Building codes are legislation. Legislation can be stupid, impractical, poorly designed and onerous - that is true - but it can also guide and form a just society.
The single payer healthcare system in the U.K. was formed after the horror of WWII,
by legislation. The UK system was not designed because the Brits are inherently "good hearted" and Americans are not - it was a humanitarian
practicality because so many people suffered in the UK during and after WWII. Bombed to bits, orphaned, permanent PTSD from the bombings, etc. But also, maybe permanently proud of their nation because they fought Hitler so hard and for so long, and they WON. They won, and more than that, the Nazi evil was exposed for the whole world to see. The whole world and all of history can see that the Brits were as right as righteousness gets not to capitulate and bargain with Hitler.
When you are right, stubbornness is a positive character trait.
Here in the states, we were not so stupefied and physically harmed by the war, so we stumbled along post-WWII with our for-profit healthcare system, all in the name of making profits.
People forget,
how forgetful we are, that in the 1980s and 90s, our healthcare system was
so on-crack about profits, that they
would just deny care to people who were seriously ill.
I remember this poor man very well -
he was denied care by Kaiser, gotta love Kaiser, and he killed himself on a freeway after putting a sign down that said "HMO's are in it for the money!! Live free, love safe or die". He was HIV positive and had cancer and Kaiser could not see him for months, as is the way with so many HMOs, but not as bad as they used to be. I had a cousin I never met who died in the 1980s or 90s because he didn't have health insurance so he didn't bother even going to the ER. Even people with cancer were being denied care in the 1980s and 90s. Profit motive on crack.
Daniel V. Jones - Wikipedia
Man Kills Self as City Watches
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...evision/98d1800a-8f6f-4378-bc35-bcf8dc263d73/
On the one hand, you say people are motivated only by selfishness, but people in groups are not magically motivated by selfishness? Aren't they still people? Did group membership sprinkle some magic dust of selflessness upon them?
I think people are motivated to change by public shaming - look at the #MeToo movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and even Zuckerberg is a teensy bit motivated to change his wayward products when he is publicly shamed in front of a congressional hearing (but only a teensy bit).
People can also be motivated, inspired to change, by laws.
People can also do things out of love - just pure, selfless, love. You won't often find love in politics, that is certain, far more greed and legislation in politics, but love can still change society. Oh, it's always in danger of being swallowed up and killed by the profit-motive, but it's still out there, making light. What inspired the Brits to fight off Hitler pretty much alone? Love. Love of country and heritage. Stubborn love.
As for the 1500s, I'm not a fan of the Spanish Conquistadores. Not a fan at all. But many Mesoamerican societies practiced human sacrifice. They were not perfect either, not at all.
"Perhaps the most well-known practitioners of human sacrifice were the ancient Mesoamerican civilizations, including the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas. Human sacrifice in Mesoamerican civilizations was not only a religious act but also a deeply ingrained socio-political ritual, pivotal in the cultural fabric of these societies." Human Sacrifice in Ancient Cultures: A Historical Overview
The 1500s were not the "good old days" for any culture, IMO. Can we just table them? If we want to form a better world, can we maybe look at just the last century with its Industrial Revolution, Information Revolution, and work from there?
I don't want to return to cooking outdoors and washing my clothes on rocks by the river. Do you?
.
), afford to lose $1,000 to $3,000 a month on an apartment 
, when renters speak out about the bad landlords. So, to assuage their hurt feelings, I will brighten the mood by declaring I'll die soon enough.
