In a world filled with cruelty, it often feels absolutely necessary to hold strong opinions against atrocities like the spread of armaments, the rise of destructive ideologies like Nazism, and the use of torture by governments. When confronted with these realities, the natural human reaction is to feel that we cannot simply sit aside and observe; we feel compelled to say or do something about it.
However, philosopher challenges us to look past our immediate reactions and question the true utility of our viewpoints. Opinions are often just unproved prejudices. Having an opinion that you are against violence does not necessarily prevent torture or stop the selling of armaments. For centuries, armament sales have continued because big business and industry rely on them to exist, and simply shouting, demonstrating, or getting tear-gassed by the police does not fundamentally change this reality. Shockingly, governments often justify their cruelest actions—including torture—in the very name of peace, law, patriotism, or God. History shows us that even the most highly educated and civilized societies, such as Germany prior to World War II, were capable of terrible things.
Therefore, argues that the problem is much deeper than merely holding opinions. Instead of getting caught up in superficial debates, we need to ask a much more fundamental question: why, after centuries of so-called civilization, is man still against another man?.
We are deeply divided by ideologies, which are ultimately just inventions of human thought. Groups form conclusions and then try to force everyone else to accept their laws and beliefs, leading to war between democratic and totalitarian ideologies.
The core of message is that we are not separate, private souls; we are fundamentally the rest of mankind. We all share the same inner realities of suffering, agony, and loneliness. When we divide ourselves with labels—whether through nationalism, claiming our country or culture is the best, or strictly identifying as Catholic, Protestant, or Hindu—we are actually contributing to the world's violence. By harboring this aggression and participating in these deep psychological divisions, we indirectly help perpetuate the very systems of torture and conflict that our opinions claim to despise.
To truly address global cruelty, we must move beyond the surface level of expressing opinions and deeply examine the internal divisions that pit us against one another.