Post #4501343

The sad reality is that a lot of people are obsessed with exerting control over others, for no reason but the thrill of having and exercising power. Power for power's sake. An emotional drive which subordinates the healthy drive to help and care for others. But consider how humanity evolved. (Everything about us must be understood in the context of our evolutionary history!) It is optimal for an organism (or social group) to harvest energy and resources from the easiest—least energetically costly, and least risky—sources. Sometimes, that means stealing from your neighbour (be they a different person, social class, or nation). Human-on-human resource predation requires acknowledgement; it is a fact of life. Only then can practical, effective systems can be designed to resist it. There is no point appealing to higher powers, or innate moral sentiment. The perpetrators have already dehumanized their victims. Morality is irrelevant. In that dynamic, only real power can resist power.