{"id":79970,"date":"2016-09-26T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=79970"},"modified":"2016-09-20T12:16:25","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T11:16:25","slug":"human-decency-moves-civilization-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/09\/human-decency-moves-civilization-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Decency Moves Civilization Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"james-haught-pic-2\"<\/a>20 Sep 2016 – <\/em>Remember a semi-comic Cold War movie, \u201cThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming\u201d?<\/p>\n

A deadly Soviet Union nuclear submarine, capable of killing millions of Americans, suffered engine trouble and was forced to surface in a little New England fishing village. After some awkward dealings, villagers with shotguns and rifles went to the waterfront.\u00a0 Soviet sailors lined the deck with machine guns.\u00a0 Weapons aimed, they faced each other in a tense standoff.\u00a0 If anyone pulled a trigger, a double massacre would occur.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, a little boy, watching the drama from a church belfry, fell and was caught tangled in a rope, suspended high above the ground, screeching.\u00a0 Abruptly, both Russians and Americans put down their guns and rushed to rescue the child. Sailors formed a human pyramid and untangled him. Then both Russians and Americans joined in a hugging, back-slapping celebration. Village girls kissed Russian sailors.<\/p>\n

U.S. warplanes arrived to destroy the stranded sub, but villagers shielded it with their fishing boats and escorted it safely back to sea.<\/p>\n

The movie had a deep meaning: Human decency \u2013 the urge to save a child \u2013 is stronger than political conflicts and military hostilities.<\/p>\n

A similar message occurred on Christmas Eve, 1914, when British and German soldiers paused their hideous trench warfare on the Western Front for a spontaneous truce.\u00a0 They sang carols to each other, shouted holiday greetings, then got out of their bunkers to meet in No Man\u2019s Land, where they traded small gifts and cordialities.\u00a0 Afterward, commanders had difficulty forcing the men to resume shooting each other.<\/p>\n

Actually, human decency is the lifeblood of civilization.\u00a0 Abraham Lincoln poetically called it \u201cthe better angels of our nature.\u201d The desire to help each other \u2013 or at least not kill each other \u2013 keeps humanity surviving and thriving.<\/p>\n

Philosophers call it humanism, a craving to reduce slaughter and make life better for everyone. It\u2019s the driving force of social advancement. Every government program that reduces poverty, improves health, prevents violence, upgrades nutrition, guarantees human rights, betters education, secures housing, assures equality, cures disease, enforces fairness, etc., is a step in the process.<\/p>\n

And decency slowly is winning.\u00a0 Several scholars have written books outlining progress that has elevated personal living conditions.<\/p>\n

For example, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker asserts that rampant killing was 1,000 times worse in medieval times than today. In his classic 2011 book, \u201cThe Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined,\u201d he notes that international warfare has virtually vanished in the 21st century — and that murder, rape, genocide, torture, wife-beating, lynching, gay-bashing, dueling, racial attacks, and even cruelty to animals are vastly less than in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decline of violence may be the most significant and least-appreciated development in the history of our species,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt is easy to forget how dangerous life used to be, how deeply brutality was once woven into the fabric of daily existence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s instant flashing of lurid news scenes makes it appear that terrible killings are everywhere — but it\u2019s misleading.\u00a0 All statistics show a clear decline in savagery. Humanity is kinder and fairer than before.<\/p>\n

During a June news conference, President Obama told a young questioner:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you had to choose any moment to be born in human history\u2026 you\u2019d choose this time.\u00a0 The world is less violent than it has ever been.\u00a0 It is healthier than it has ever been.\u00a0 It is more tolerant than it has ever been. It is better fed than it has ever been.\u00a0 It is more educated than it has ever been.\u00a0 Terrible things happen around the world every single day, but the trend lines of progress are unmistakable.\u201d<\/p>\n

These improvements arise from the best human urges.\u00a0 Intelligent democracy makes it possible for kindly instincts \u2013 the humane empathy locked in everyone\u2019s inner mind \u2013 to prevail.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of California\u2019s Greater Good Science Center assert that compassion evolved as humanity did, and is crucial for social progress.<\/p>\n

As long as supposed enemies drop their guns to rescue a dangling child, there\u2019s hope that decency can outweigh the world\u2019s ugliness, and civilization can keep on improving.<\/p>\n

____________________________________<\/p>\n

James Haught, syndicated by <\/em>PeaceVoice<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> is editor emeritus of West Virginia\u2019s largest newspaper, The Charleston Gazette-Mail.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker asserts that rampant killing was 1,000 times worse in medieval times than today. In his classic 2011 book, \u201cThe Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined,\u201d he notes that international warfare has virtually vanished in the 21st century — and that murder, rape, genocide, torture, wife-beating, lynching, gay-bashing, dueling, racial attacks, and even cruelty to animals are vastly less than in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspirational"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}