Pretty bleak but there’s something in it.
Emil Durkheim, the philosopher once said something like
“What if there was no crime? What if there emerged a society where everyone was perfectly respectful and non-violent and everyone was equal? What if no one lied or hurt each other? What if corruption did not exist? What would happen?
Would conflict cease? Would stress evaporate? Would everyone frolic in the field picking daisies and singing Kumbaya?”
No. He suggested that the more comfortable and ethical society became, the more that small indiscretions will become magnified in our minds. If everyone stopped killing each other, we wouldn’t necessarily feel good about it. We’d just get equally upset about the more minor stuff.
“What if there was no crime? What if there emerged a society where everyone was perfectly respectful and non-violent and everyone was equal? What if no one lied or hurt each other? What if corruption did not exist? What would happen?
Would conflict cease? Would stress evaporate? Would everyone frolic in the field picking daisies and singing Kumbaya?”
No. He suggested that the more comfortable and ethical society became, the more that small indiscretions will become magnified in our minds. If everyone stopped killing each other, we wouldn’t necessarily feel good about it. We’d just get equally upset about the more minor stuff.
