Sometimes I think we expect to much of our species as a whole. History is filled with unrelenting violence and subjugation with periods of calm in between. What if we are, by our very nature, no more than animals that believe we are “civilized”? What if the only thing that keeps us from mauling each other out of existence is self-preservation? Technology may change but people don’t.

Are our expectations realistic? What if some of us are just too dense or too narcissistic to understand the concept of empathy and fairness? I’ve encountered people (in my own family) that don’t have the capacity to understand nuance. They can handle the typical machinations of life but that’s it. The intricacies of cause and effect totally escape them. Others don’t have a connection to their fellow man. They’re no more than predators who are hindered only by self preservation.

I don’t write this as an excuse to stop trying. I just believe some people (no matter the skin color) are so dug in, so indoctrinated, so hard wired that no argument will turn them from their hatred. What is to be done about them?

Case in point, global warming. How far are we willing to let the naysayers go? Will we allow them to bring us all to the brink of starvation or extinction before we say enough is enough? What then?