The Good Side of Human Nature

Conservative views of human nature originated with Adam and Eve.  Mankind has never been able to attain perfection because, by nature, we are not perfectable.  That is what the doctrine of “original sin,” in essence, means.  Utopians and Communists insisted upon seeing this the hard way at the cost of untold misery and death of their brethren.  And the world still abounds with dangerous fools who refuse to accept this reality.

But to say that man is not perfect is not to condemn us to perpetual purgatory.

After all, our specie has survived for many thousands of years.  Surely, there are aspects of our immutable nature which have made that possible.  We are programmed to do that which is necessary to our survival.  When we stray, disaster ensues.

By nature, we are social creatures engineered (if you will) to live cooperatively in group settings.  That is essential to mankind’s survival.

Proof of this proposition is found in a study of sixty different cultures across the globe conducted by a University of Oxford anthropologist. 

“There is a similar moral matrix we all share,” the Professor writes.

He identified seven universal values:

          1.  Helping your family.

          2.  Helping your group.

          3.  Being fair with others (divide equally).

          4.  Respecting others’ property.

          5.  Being brave. 

          6.  Returning favors (The Golden Rule).

          7.  Respecting older members of your family and group.

If, upon reviewing this list, you thought “that’s the natural way to think,” that’s the point!

When governments defy human nature, the outcome will not be pretty.