I Think This Confusion Leads Intellectuals And

For One Thing, Before The 20th Century, There Were Plenty Of Genocides. We Tend To Forget About Them, Partly Because They Weren't As Well Documented And Partly Because, Until Recently, People Didn't Care. We Used Euphemisms Like 'sackings' And 'sieges' Instead Of Calling Them 'genocides.'

... People Notice Differences And Expect Every Difference In Form To Convey Some Difference In Meaning.

For All The Tribulations In Our Lives, For All The Troubles That Remain In The World, The Decline Of Violence Is An Accomplishment That We Can Savor - And An Impetus To Cherish The Forces Of Civilization And Enlightenment That Made It Possible.

Knowing There Is A World That Will Outlive You, There Are People Whose Well-being Depends On How You Live Your Life, Affects The Way You Live Your Life, Whether Or Not You Directly Experience Those Effects. You Want To Be The Kind Of Person Who Has The Larger View, Who Takes Other People's Interests Into Account, Who's Dedicated To The Principles That You Can Justify, Like Justice, Knowledge, Truth, Beauty And Morality.

The More You Think About And Interact With Other People, The More You Realize That It Is Untenable To Privilege Your Interests Over Theirs.