Butchers
Our butchering habits will continue as long as we are unable to face the reality of what we are: a truly nasty species.
We could justifiably be called the butchering species. Not only do we butcher millions of animals every day, but we have a habit of butchering our own species. Here is a quote from Michel de Montaigne describing a typical situation that manifested in sixteenth-century France:
Edward Prince of Wales, having been offended by the inhabitants of Limoges, took their town by force. The lamentations of the townsfolk, the women and children left behind to be butchered, crying for mercy and throwing themselves at his feet, did not stop him ...
There are also copious examples of butchery in the twentieth century. It is said that Mao Zedong was responsible for the deaths of around eighty million people. Stalin oversaw the horrific deaths of about fifty million, seven million being Ukrainians who he starved to death; so it is not difficult to see why the Ukrainians fight with such determination now. There are even early signs that the US population might soon experience some level of butchery. But as Spinoza points out, we have this strange behavior that causes us to strive for nothing more than our own slavery, and there will always be people ready to step up to the role of slave master.
This level of self-mutilation is not observed in any other species, and you have to remember that we glibly read over statistics relating to death. As someone stated (no one is sure of the source), “the death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.” Unimaginable suffering is created by our need to butcher each other. Each fallen soldier might be a father, a husband, a son, a grandson, and so on.
Our butchering habits will continue as long as we are unable to face the reality of what we are: a truly nasty species. Since self-honesty is not a trait we are known for, we will continue to broadcast glowing reports about ourselves, all the time ignoring the butchery that takes place every day. It is this inability to see our species for what it is that has made Freud unpopular. He refused to flatter us. Many people even imagine that humans are spiritual creatures; possibly the most sickening of all our self-flattery. We are butchers.