Man is the only creature disposed to kill huge numbers of members of his own species, and his instrument is usually the state.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on humanity's unique tendency for internal conflict and mass violence, often facilitated by governmental power.
Joseph Sobran highlights the paradoxical nature of humanity; unlike any other species, humans have a propensity for violence against their own kind, frequently orchestrated through political mechanisms. This observation invites a deep reflection on the role of the state in facilitating such actions, suggesting that societal structures can both protect and endanger the very people they are meant to serve.
In practice
In a debate about the role of government during times of war, this quote can emphasize the darker aspects of state power.
There has never been a humane communist regime. Marxism is inherently totalitarian. It recognizes no moral limits on the state. Itβs the most convenient ideology for aspiring tyrants; it also retains its appeal for intellectuals, who have proved equally skillful at rationalizing abuses of power and at exculpating themselves.
The prospect of a government that treats all its citizens as criminal suspects is more terrifying than any terrorist. And even more frightening is a citizenry that can accept the surrender of its freedoms as the price of "freedom".
Each of us has a soul, but we forget to value it. We don't remember that we are creatures made in the image of God. We don't understand the great secrets hidden inside of us.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Crime is contagious....if the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law.
My job is not to save 'The Wheel of Time', to fix 'The Wheel of Time', or anything like that. My job is not to screw it up.
It's terrible to have to say this. World population must be stabilized and to do that we must eliminate 350,000 people per day. This is so horrible to contemplate that we shouldn't even say it. But the general situation in which we are involved is lamentable.
If there is in this world a well-attested account, it is that of vampires. Nothing is lacking: official reports, affidavits of well-known people, of surgeons, of priests, of magistrates; the judicial proof is most complete. And with all that, who is there who believes in vampires?
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