Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Maybe because it makes people uncomfortable, or perhaps folks just aren't aware, but no one ever talks about how wars, disease & famine leave the survivors better off in a physical prosperity & available opportunities sense. This concept has a lot of the zero-sum-gain view of an economy that central planners hate to admit exists, but the truth is, your neighbor's loss is your gain. You get the good job, the accouterments of fine living & in the case of war, the beautiful women; and you inherit all the wealth rather than have to share with relatives.

Evolution tends to be very sexist and Machiavellian; strife & catastrophe seem to be the best catalyst for societal improvement. The seminal counter-example is the famous Mouse Utopia experiment, where the colony's ultimate doom in the face of prosperity had such an illogical conclusion that it's terrifying. Anyone who reads the history of that tragedy cannot help but be mortified. Would that be the fate of humans in times of plenty? Would comfort & lack of want inevitably lead to sexual perversion, sloth & mental illness? We want to think human intelligence would overcome whatever it was that befell the mice, but we suspect not. My guess is that the actions of individuals trying to better themselves makes all the difference, and without that, we sink into oblivion.