memes

Around the selfish gene. The thing that guaranteed we survive and "emerge" became the guarantee our own combined greed and lack of empathy will be our undoing. You or I might be fine making sacrifices for the betterment of humanity; the ones who are the end result of aeons of racism, aggression, selfishness and hubris will make sure that their selfish genes get passed on, they gain wealth and power, and they ignore everyone else around, except maybe the closest friends and family. Even when they are actually burning up the planet in the process.

This is how it has worked since the dawn of humanity, even before that as animals. Most mammals ostracize their peers with albinism, leave behind or eat the weak, and the greediest fledgling will become the largest one.

We are past that. We don't need this behaviour anymore. Survival isn't an everyday challenge for the most of us. But similarly to leg hair, the tailbone or your ability to move your ears, they can't just disappear as quickly as the environment, circumstances and society have changed around us. Little children are still mostly suspicious with strangers, or people who look different from what they are used to. Our built-in vestigial BIOS settings are also the reason those greedy, aggressive human fledglings are eating up everything from others, shitting the nest, and ruining the planet for everyone.

I think there isn't a definite point where we've gone wrong. It's been a looong process.