MANKIND: Deeply disappointed

This is the first letter I’ve written to a newspaper and it will be my last. I previously believed that both written and spoken dialogue were healthy ways to share our opinions so we could better understand one another.

At the age of 73, and a student of history, I’ve come to a realization that people in general don’t want to listen or comprehend the other person’s point of view, whether it be politics, religion, science, and so on. What most people want is to win the debate, and in the process, devastate their opponent.

So why write this letter? I write not to convince, but to present an observation that may be a useful tool to some. It has helped me to place Mankind’s actions in the appropriate context in history.

Just in my lifetime, in the wars that our country has been involved in, approximately 55,000,000 humans have died. This figure does not include lives lost in war, mayhem and murder around the world and only covers the span of my relatively brief life.

Mankind is selfish, cruel, power and money hungry. That’s not to say there aren’t good people, doing good things to save our world, because there are. Without them, we would have destroyed this world long ago.

When I was a child, I also thought that most people were good. I know better now, and I’m glad I’m not young anymore.

F.J. AUGUSTA

Coeur d’Alene