On Thu, 12 Aug 1999, Linda M. Woolf wrote:
> Hi Tipsters,
>
> I'm not so sure that we have a genocide gene. In fact, I would strongly argue
> that we do not.
>
> Certainly, many would argue that human cruelty is part of our make-up as
> humans. However, individuals who raise this as a hypothesis almost always
> counter that the capacity for human kindness, empathy, and altruistic behavior
> are also part of our make-up. It is not as one sided as you present.
>
> Additionally, a genetic predisposition for violence as a monocausal explanation
> of genocide is not support by the data. The roots of genocide are multicausal
> and interact. The roots of genocide include cultural, intergroup, intragroup,
> and individual factors that occur
> within specific at-risk historical and political contexts. Early warning signs
> that exist/develop prior to a genocidal action and the role of bystanders. Some
> of the specific factors interacting to form the foundation for genocide include
> degree of governmental control over individual and group behaviors, crisis
> (e.g. economic or political) on group or individual identity, nationalism, and
> bystander involvement levels. Secondary factors which can escalate the potential
> for genocidal actions and their interactions include (but are not limited to)
> the use of aggression as a traditional form of conflict resolution and its
> relationship to socio-cultural patterns of obedience to authority,
> in-group/out-group behaviors, pseudospeciation, moral exclusion, and
> conformity. Additionally, genocide proponents use secondary factor manipulation
> to facilitate perpetrator behavior and inhibit bystander behavior. Within this
> broader cultural context, family patterns and their relationship to
> scapegoating, victim dehumanization, and individual perpetrator acts of genocide
> are involved.
>
However,it does appear that lots of conflict are due to disputes as to
the ownership of territories and land.As a matter of fact,returning the
land to the original inhabitants could be a step in help solving the
problem.
Guatemala still claims Belize.
Should people in the U.S be considered illegal immigramts in Mexican and
Native American territories?
Michael Sylvester
Daytona Beach,Florida
