“Maybe this world is another planet’s hell”.
(Aldous Huxley, quoted on United Press International)
Were there little green men observing Earth from some other distant planet, they would note the thousands of refugees fleeing violence, the general political instability, the unpleasant, repressive regimes, the over-population, the poverty, the degradation of the environment, and the seeming inability of mankind to get on together. This is clearly why they haven’t bothered to visit our planet.
Lost among the disagreeable people and their doings are still those who try to live pleasant lives, harming no one, respecting all and tilling their Epicurean gardens. Unfortunately, they are the relatively few and may not register with little green men light years away. Things are not as bad as they might look from outer space.
Do you know what the Epicurean view of human nature is? This article implies that it is bad, by distinguishing between the mob that are responsible for things like overpopulation and environmental degradation, and the few who are Epicureans or living according to an Epicurean mindset.
At least for now, I take a slightly more positive view than this article. I think most people try to live essentially good lives. However, slight but frequent miscalculations are made. In a world this big, the sum of said miscalculations rises inexorably, leading to general misery for the masses. For example, in the case of the environment, most people try to lead environmentally-friendly lives. But they may make an exception, say, to choose to drive a car instead of using public transport. In a world this big, that means a lot of people are optional car users- increasing humanity’s impact on the natural world.
I think its also important to remember the massive extent to which people are influenced by their cultures and surroundings, even if they are innately good people. For instance, most Muslims (like most other people) are wonderful people. But many of them reject secularism in favour of Islamism ,because it makes sense given their religious beliefs and collective historical experiences. They haven’t been given a liberal education the way people in the Western world have, so their values and truths are very different to our own.