Deceit, lying, and falsehoods lie at the very heart of our cultural heritage. Even the founding myth of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the story of Adam and Eve, revolves around a lie. Our seemingly insatiable appetite for stories of deception spans the extremes of culture from "King Lear" to Little[...]
'Brute.' 'Cockroach.' 'Lice.' 'Vermin.' 'Dog.' 'Beast.' These and other monikers are constantly in use to refer to other humans - for political, religious, ethnic, or sexist reasons. Human beings have a tendency to regard members of their own kind as less than human. This tendency has made atrocitie[...]
This is the most important post-9/11 analysis of war and it comes none too soon. Every politician should read this book before deciding on war. In the 20th century, 170 million human beings have died in wars. That makes 4630 casualties a day, 193 every hour, and 3 every minute. While 1035 billion do[...]
"Brute." "Cockroach." "Lice." "Vermin." People often regard members of their own kind as less than human, and use terms like these for those whom they wish to harm, enslave, or exterminate. Dehumanization has made atrocities like the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda, and the slave trade possible. B[...]