> As a rhetorical device, Bregman takes Jean-Jacques Rousseau's more hopeful account of humanity in a state of nature. For Rousseau the problem is not what is hidden by the veneer—human nature is fine—it is civilisation itself.
Hmmm, without the veneer of civilisation, we would be basically apes with oversized brains. Apes cooperate just fine within their own group, they are social animals after all, but between different groups it can get very nasty very fast. Which is of course what we can see all around the world at a larger or smaller scale (wars, social networks, election campaigns, racial tensions etc.) but I doubt getting rid of civilisation is a solution for these problems...
Hmmm, without the veneer of civilisation, we would be basically apes with oversized brains. Apes cooperate just fine within their own group, they are social animals after all, but between different groups it can get very nasty very fast. Which is of course what we can see all around the world at a larger or smaller scale (wars, social networks, election campaigns, racial tensions etc.) but I doubt getting rid of civilisation is a solution for these problems...