This is the problem - you keep repeating that everyone should act in the manner they believe best for humanity. Yet I say that such a view presupposes that one knows what is best for humanity. OK? For if you do not know what you are trying to achieve, why should you have the courage to act on your convictions? And you admit that nobody is qualified to know the answer to this question.
You believe, underneath, that if everyone did act in this manner, then they would share your views. The problem is that everyone else tends to think the same way (i.e. that their views are correct, and not yours).
If you accept that Hitler and Stalin believed in what they did, you would endorse their actions?
When Stalin said: "Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem", maybe he believed that he was acting in the best interests of humanity.
I repeat that the Nazi's believed their actions were for the benefit of humanity - yet since their aims do not correspond with yours (or mine), you claim they were not sincere (for what else can you claim?). I say they were absolutely sincere.
I'm not saying we should not work for a better society, but the moment one believes that a perfect society or anything like it is possible, then things turn scary.
__________________
"How fortunate it is for the leaders of the World that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler
"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic" - Joseph Stalin
|