Megan McArdle has some very good points.
Brutality is pretty much the norm for most of human history; as we’ve gotten richer, we’ve gotten less violent in all sorts of ways–we’ve stamped out (mostly) once common practices like infanticide, torture, wife beating, and the stoning of adulterers. Hunter gatherers are vastly more likely to die from homicide than people living in the developed world. Goodness is, in some sense, a luxury good. The most valuable luxury good we have.
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