The Natural Depravity of Mankind: Observations on the Human Condition

In this volume, really just a long essay, Lundberg gives many examples of human depravity, mostly examples from the 20th century. According to Lundberg depravity is defined as individuals putting their personal interests ahead of the law and the common good will. But is it really depravity, as we evolved from lower forms of life by being largely selfish, perhaps only giving some aid to relatives and friends? Calling us depraved is an inaccuracy, as there is no ultimate right or wrong about our behavior, it is just how we are, part of the natural order that the human animal is part of, even though this may be offensive to some people. The issue of depravity aside, this book is full of the misdeeds of polititians, religious persons, industry leaders, and the United States is not exempt by any means. This volume was very readable and hard to put down at times.Lundberg states that "Men, left to their own devices, simply are not peaceful animals and never were." Another quote, "The masters of propaganda have shown that one can persuade the broad public of anything whatever." And Lundberg states that religions are all "encased in some preposterous myth"...(pp 52 to read more on this). Lundberg also says we are not a democracy at all, and special interests control our government to a large extent, no surprise there! Even with this, Lundberg supports the view that governments are the only thing to keep men from tearing each other apart, he has much more faith in governments than I do. Other topics are immigration and the turning of large parts of big cities into conditions that resemble third world countries. Lundberg does'nt mention conditions in small towns and the country across the USA, a person can encounter similiar conditions there, and probably will only get worst in coming decades. This book jumps around a lot, and repeats now and then, but is well worth reading with much valuable information, it could even shake part of your world-view.