Replies

“We don’t have a plague depopulating whole counties and leaving the survivors pretty messed up.”

I’d say abortion comes close, although infant death back than might even it out somewhat. It certainly evens out the barbaric aspect, despite that many don’t recognize it as barbarism. Still, millions every year being killed by different forms of violence has to count for what it is. Apart from abortion, many practice birth control, which some see as a plague even though it is self inflicted, and also serves to depopulate countries.

If one discounts abortion, there probably is a higher % of folks who recognize the rights of others now than ever before. If one counts abortion it is probably much more even, although once one is born there is a probably much higher chance of living a short brutal life back then than today.

Freegards

We don't have hordes burning and raping their way across the South. We don't have a plague depopulating whole counties and leaving the survivors pretty messed up.

Talk to the people in Sudan, and, well, most of Africa - north or south. According to Ask.com, the percent of adults with AIDS is:

1. Swaziland - 33.4%
2. Botswana - 24.1%
3. Lesotho - 23.2%
4. Zimbabwe - 20.1%
5. Namibia - 19.6%
6. South Africa - 18.8%
7. Zambia - 17.0%
8. Mozambique - 16.1%
9. Malawi - 11.8%
10. Central African Republic - 10.7%

That does not include children. As a comparison, the estimates of death by plague in the middle ages is somewhere around 30%. The plague came and went. AIDS will continue.

Burning is still SOP in many of the countries in revolution today, mostly in Africa. We have rampant ritual cannibalism (remember Idi Amin?). And now we have the disturbing trend in the West where mothers are killing not only their unborn babies, but their growing children as well.

We are not quite the same as then. But we are humans and with the replacement in the West of the father with the welfare state, a sizeable percentage of the children are starting to revert to the wild state and avoiding becoming human (at least in behaviour).

In our cities? Try walking down the street in Cass Corridor or Highland Park (Detroit) at midnight on a warm summer night with cash sticking out of your pockets or if female, provocatively dressed. We'll see how thin the veneer of civilization is in certain areas of the country.