Proof that mankind is determined to destroy itself

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

The List of Wars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars

You'll be there a while- it's a long list.

[CanuckAmok]

1. What Keeps Mankind Alive?

You gentlemen who think you have a mission
To purge us of the seven deadly sins
Should first sort out the basic food position
Then start your preaching, that’s where it begins

You lot who preach restraint and watch your waist as well
Should learn, for once, the way the world is run
However much you twist or whatever lies that you tell
Food is the first thing, morals follow on

So first make sure that those who are now starving
Get proper helpings when we all start carving
What keeps mankind alive?

What keeps mankind alive?
The fact that millions are daily tortured
Stifled, punished, silenced and oppressed
Mankind can keep alive thanks to its brilliance
In keeping its humanity repressed
And for once you must try not to shirk the facts
Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts
Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts

--Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht

[sweetheart]

2. alive and present

Presently alive and aware,
Hungry survival for grasping greed,
dying lost in dispair,
Callous revival, let Jesus bleed.

[amerikat]

3. Fascinating,,,,,,,thanks for the link, Bookmarked

I'm a revolutionary war history buff because I grew up in NJ and close to Pa. Now I live in NY, near Ticonderoga, saratoga etc.

[Boojatta]

4. Are scientists and technologists determined to continue to pursue

more advanced weapons technologies?

Are people in the humanities insisting that it is impossible to influence the general public and the elites to pursue non-violent means of resolving conflicts?

Do governments insist on spending huge amounts of money for destructive weapons systems, missiles, bombs, and bullets, and relatively tiny amounts of money for research aimed at really trying to understand people?

[greyl]

5. Bullshit.

Humanity is 3 million years old, and has been comprised of 10s of thousands of cultures. If mankind were determined to destroy itself, it's done a historically poor job. There are cultures existing today that have never gone to war and live relatively (to our culture) peaceful lives.
Point is, there's a hell of lot of evidence that a certain kind of culture will inevitably destroy itself, but none that mankind will. Our culture does not equal humanity.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

6. Humanity is NOT 3 million years old.

Depending on whom you ask, it's either 6,000 years old or in the general area of 65,000 years old. Remember, history is only recorded for only about the past three or four thousand years, and most of the early stuff is still just conjecture.

[greyl]

7. Is this one of those creationist jokes that aren't funny anymore?

"Depending on whom you ask, it's either 6,000 years old or in the general area of 65,000 years old."

Well, you're asking me now. Do you think I pulled that figure out of my ear? Humanity is in the neighborhood of 3 million years old. If you want to consult with only ignorant people, I guess I can't stop you. I recommend doing some more research on the topic. Modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) are widely acknowledged to have existed for about 200,000 years, so I can only imagine that your opinions in this thread are coming from some several thousand year old religion that says humans were born with Divine Flaws and in need of salvation.

Furthermore, my point that there are cultures that exist today that have never been at war and that live relatively peaceful lives hasn't been addressed by you.

I can hardly believe I feel the need to type this at a progressive website.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

8. Terribly sorry.

I was not aware that being progressive automatically meant you had to be an athiest. I'll have to re-read the handbook.

Yes, if you count such early folk as the Australopithicus Afarensis, you can stretch it back to almost FOUR million years, but I personally do not.

http://www.wsu.edu/gened/learn-modules/top_longfor/timeline/timeline.html

I personally had in mind the branch of the species that actually has the capacity for thought and the capability of verbal communication. That narrows it down a wee bit- to approximately, hmmmm, let's see-- SIXTY THOUSAND YEARS or so.

http://www.fsmitha.com/timeline.html

Of course there's the off-chance that the war timeline has a page or two I failed to see access to. I'll be glad to read it if you can show me a link.

[greyl]

10. The genus Homo is "human".

You don't need to be an atheist to realize that.

You're still way off with the age of modern humans.
And there's no "proof" that humanity is intent on destroying itself.

[Mika]

9. I clicked on Current Wars and didn't see..

.. any listing of the Corporatefacist war on the American middle class.

Maybe a Wiki editor can add it.