Scottish poet Robbie Burns wrote this poem in 1784. Verse 7 contains this well-known phrase.
“Many and sharp the num’rous ills
Inwoven with our frame!
More pointed still we make ourselves,
Regret, remorse, and shame!
And man, whose heav'n-erected face
The smiles of love adorn, -
Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!”
His words highlight how poorly humans often treat their fellows. In evolutionary terms, this would appear to be a sub-optimal strategy, unless part of competition for food resources or mating supremacy. Yet, for all our supposed large-brained superiority, Homo Sapiens displays a streak of behavioural cruelty which often sabotages overall societal achievement. It emerges in several ways.
Is this an individual showing off? Flaunting his assets to gain admiration from his tribe? Or perhaps treating a single weaker member badly, as the saying goes in French, ‘pour encourager les autres’.
By such means, a strong leader might safeguard the greater number of his tribe by sacrificing a single member very publicly to ensure everyone else behaves in a manner which he believes will enable their survival. Or at least encourage the mode of behaviour he desires.
But this is also the method by which a weak leader tries to show he is strong. In his head, in his innermost thoughts, he knows he is weak. He exercises this technique even when there is no existential urgency, to reassure himself of his leadership qualities. Quick to anger, it is his fear of being unmasked as weak which compels a disproportionate response to situations of minor importance. History suggests that repeated instances of confected ire are noted by the populous over time and recognised as weakness. We often say that bullies pick on those unable to defend themselves. And that the best defence is to stand up to the bully and show you are not about to roll over.
It works in the school yard. It is effective in the workplace. And it can work too between warring countries, albeit on a vast and slower scale.
But let us look elsewhere. Some animals release and recapture their prey before consuming it. Is this cruelty? Bullying? Or practising the skill of catching prey? Perhaps a single act of chasing is not enough to generate the necessary digestive juices. Repetition of the catching might make sure the hunter makes full use of the calories to be consumed.
And then there are animals which hunt and kill even if they are not hungry. Orcas kill and leave uneaten carcasses, as do some bears. And, of course, domestic cats, which are well-fed at home, will venture outside and hunt, driven by predatory instinct. Their larger cousins, leopards, may take advantage of an opportunity to hunt and then store the carcass for consumption later.
But these examples are usually food-related. Others might concern competition – for example, male hippos attack anything which moves, including, it is said, their own progeny.
Homo Sapiens is supposed to be the ultimate apex predator, the pinnacle of bipedal evolution. For the most part, our hunting and gathering instinct is restricted to visits to the local supermarket, or, at best, seeking out that latest darling pushed in the media, the shop selling some delicacy – perhaps a single origin coffee in recycled cups. The closest most come to actual hunting is in various physical sports – javelin throwing, target shooting, distance running and the like. But these activities do not satisfy that more destructive strain of instinctive cruelty within us. Instead, it finds outlet in the manner of our treatment of our fellows.
We highlight perceived differences between us and others. These are both linguistic and actual. Much to my personal disgust, the word ‘Other’ - an adjective or noun - is often used these days as a verb. ‘I other you’. ‘He others them‘. If the intent is to exclude people from the group believing itself to be superior, it often succeeds and sparks discord and resentment.
But there has lately been reported an example I find so …base; so destructive and insulting that it defies my available lexicon for description. Until recently, America provided aid and assistance to countries whose peoples were in need of help, especially medicine and food. But the US government have cut funding to US AID so that many of their operatives have had to return to the US. The flow of aid has been scythed back. Included in the reasoning for this, in the case of Palestine, we were told by Washington and the Israeli government, was that aid arriving there was always stolen by the terrorist group, Hamas. Instead, the US Government hired UG Solutions - a private contractor - to provide security at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, where hundreds of civilians seeking food have been killed in scenes of chaos and gunfire. Palestine, I’m sure you know, is a glorious mixture of religious affiliation, spanning Christian faiths, Moslems and yes, even Jews.
I read yesterday that the private US firm guarding distribution sites has hired members of a US biker gang with a history of hostility to Islam to run its armed security. Ten members of the Infidels Motorcycle Club work there, seven of whom in senior positions overseeing the sites. The club was set up by US military veterans of the Iraq war in 2006 and uses the Crusader Cross as their symbol. They hold an anti-Islamic view and are reported to have held a pig roast during the Moslem Holy month of Ramadan. Some members sport tattoos of the number 1095 – the year Christian Crusaders started to drive Moslems out of their lands.
Such needless provocation of an oppressed people I find among the worst examples of the instinctive streak of cruelty residing in Homo Sapiens. Why do it? Because they can..? What purpose does it serve? How can human beings providing physical succour delight in such cruelty? I include here those who hired the gang members. They must have known.
In this respect, if no other, the population of gastropods which has used the recent rain storms to return to my garden with renewed vigour (and hunger), is superior to these base examples of humanity.
