We Can Agree…..Oh, Wait, No We Can’t

In his book on operant conditioning, Walden Two, B. F. Skinner writes (and I paraphrase), “We can agree that love is better than hate, that peace is better than war, and that productive energy is better than neurotic sloth.”

Now, this was offered at the time to justify the “engineering” of society, a concept that was popular among the mid-20th Century intellectuals.  It was especially interesting to the dystopian novelists of the time, like George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, who pointed out that such an operation could produce some really adverse effects.

That notwithstanding, having agreement of top-level concepts among the peoples of the Earth sounds like a good idea.

There is a problem, however, i.e., it ain’t happening.

A good example is murderous dictator, and now war criminal, Vladimir Putin.  There was a day that honorable people did not support the world’s lawless thugs.  That day is no more.

Now, Donald Trump leads an entire array of Republicans who regard Putin very highly.  The Russian autocrat is revered by the “America first” folks who express their admiration; many grassroots conservatives agree with Trump that Putin is “savvy.”

I could say that God is better than Satan, but I’m sure that if I wait a few years, that will be controversial too.