The vast majority of peoples' actions are beneficent, or at least polite. Otherwise, nobody would even keep their cars on roads. Stores would keep all merchandise in locked displays (not just the expensive things where the rare thief causes too much damage).
The bad experiences stand out because that's how our minds are wired, and they're so uncommon as to be surprising.
>Otherwise, nobody would even keep their cars on roads.
that's exactly what happens when state power vanishes. It's always fun to recall historical events, in 1977 when New York lost power for 24 hours (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977#Crime" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977...)
In those 24 hours 1600 stores were looted, 1000 fires laid, firefights broke out, the mafia in little Italy hat to defend the quarter with barricades and arms, robbers were being robbed by other robbers, almost 4k people were arrested to the point where they had to be put into basements and gyms. That's one day without order. The bad experiences don't stand out because they're uncommon, they stand out because we all instinctively know we're one bad week away from eating each other. Which by the way given that this is a thread about China, happened in the living memory of some people: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangxi_Massacre" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangxi_Massacre
"In the massacre, methods of slaughter included "beheading, beating, live burial, stoning, drowning, boiling, group slaughters, disemboweling, digging out hearts, livers, genitals, slicing off flesh, blowing up with dynamite, and more".[1][8] In one case, according to official records, a person had dynamite bound to the back and was blown up into pieces by other people (so called "heavenly maiden scattering flowers", 天女散花)—just for fun"
I don't even think one needs to reach for extreme incidents to show the underlying animal nature of humans. From the far more mundane shopping frenzy of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tickle_Me_Elmo" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tickle_Me_Elmo : "The scarcity of the new toy provoked a shopping frenzy. Two women were arrested in Chicago for fighting over the doll, while in New York City some people ran after delivery trucks hoping to get their hands on Elmo before it reached stores. ... Robert Waller, a clerk working at a Wal-Mart store in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, was among those injured by 'Elmo-mania'. During a Midnight Madness sale on December 14, Robert was unpacking the latest shipment of Tickle Me Elmo, when he became uncomfortably aware of a crowd of about 300 people watching him carefully. He opened a box, pulled out an Elmo - and the crowd stampeded down the aisle. Trampled, he suffered 'a pulled hamstring, injuries to his back, jaw and knee, a broken rib and a concussion'." It was supremely silly but the incidents of hooliganism across the U.S. were real.
999900000999 · · focus · HN ↗
This is largely correct across cultures.
“Trust is a luxury I can’t afford.” - Cormega
Your best friends will screw you over for fun.
Your friendly boss will lie to your face.
Family members have no issue with ripping each other off once money is on the line.
How many probate attorneys eat well because siblings need to sue each other ?
I don’t even think it’s a matter of capitalism or economics.
Something is off about humanity at a fundamental level.
vharuck · · focus · HN ↗
The bad experiences stand out because that's how our minds are wired, and they're so uncommon as to be surprising.
Barrin92 · · focus · HN ↗
that's exactly what happens when state power vanishes. It's always fun to recall historical events, in 1977 when New York lost power for 24 hours (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977#Crime" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977...)
In those 24 hours 1600 stores were looted, 1000 fires laid, firefights broke out, the mafia in little Italy hat to defend the quarter with barricades and arms, robbers were being robbed by other robbers, almost 4k people were arrested to the point where they had to be put into basements and gyms. That's one day without order. The bad experiences don't stand out because they're uncommon, they stand out because we all instinctively know we're one bad week away from eating each other. Which by the way given that this is a thread about China, happened in the living memory of some people: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangxi_Massacre" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangxi_Massacre
"In the massacre, methods of slaughter included "beheading, beating, live burial, stoning, drowning, boiling, group slaughters, disemboweling, digging out hearts, livers, genitals, slicing off flesh, blowing up with dynamite, and more".[1][8] In one case, according to official records, a person had dynamite bound to the back and was blown up into pieces by other people (so called "heavenly maiden scattering flowers", 天女散花)—just for fun"
ThrowawayR2 · · focus · HN ↗