My dear daughter,
My impression is most people live in such blissful ignorance it borders recklessness. They don’t care about the consequences of political decisions or long term effects of their individual or collective actions, as long as a minimum comfort can be secured in the very short term.
There is a tendency for any group to maintain the status quo as far as there is a generalized sense of minimum security. Or an impression, however false or illusory, that potential dangers won’t affect them. For example, people seem to be ok with a weekly death lottery if chances are as “good” as 1 in 50,000.
From the Historical point of view, it takes something like a widespread hunger among at least 20% of a population to drive any kind of abrupt change or discontinuity with past institutions or practices.
It’s a shame – you would think that a species with a brain capable of intelligence and reasoning would know better. Sometimes I think evolutionary forces wasted intelligence on our species. It is certainly better enjoyed by dolphins or other primates such as bonobos.
A lot of social groups nowadays, large or small, behave much like lab mice. Which implies there are some individuals or groups acting as researchers – laying experiments, driving behavior. It is important to have that notion, for good or bad.
Love,
Dad
Aspergers Dad 