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*Dusts off his Philosophy coursework*
We are self-destructive because we are free and that freedom terrifies us.
In the pre-modern era, the concept of an individual as we currently recognise it did not exist. You were born into a role for society that was very strict in its boundries. A serf would be born a serf, live a serf, die a serf. Even the "elite" were limited by the complex system of rules and marriages. A person was not free to explore their individuality.
With the ascension of democracy and capitalism, a new belief in freedom emerged. A person was no longer limited into the social role they had been born into and had a controlling stake (the vote) in society itself. However, this freedom brings with it an existentialist crisis. People don't want to truly believe that they are inherently responsible for the consequences of their actions. Being free moral agents brings with it the inability to shift blame to another party so people try to deny their freedom. Only a few can accept their free nature and most end up as neurotics.
One of the ways to deny freedom is to be destructive. There are two forms of destructive intent, outward and inward looking. Outward looking destruction solves the dilemma of freedom by actively removing that which forces the dilemma upon you, ie, society. Vandalism, robbery, arson, etc solve the problem of freedom by symbolically striking out at a society that prevents other, more useful outlets to expression of freedom. Inward looking destruction focuses on hurting the individual himself. Eating disorders, selfharm, etc seek to assert control on the person through the medium of pain. Freedom is denied by making one subject to the control of pain.
On a societial level, you too find the expressions of outward destruction (environmental damage, war, etc) and inward destruction (crime, drug abuse, etc). A society made up of individuals trying to deny their basic free nature will also attempt to deny it's own nature. People en mass are in retreat from the crisis of having to take responsibility for the consequences of the actions allowed to them by freedom to be a unique individual. A person who starves themself thin so they can look like the models on TV is afflicted with the same basic problem that a nation who ignores its pollution has.
Based, largely, on the work by Erich Fromm.
We are self-destructive because we are free and that freedom terrifies us.
In the pre-modern era, the concept of an individual as we currently recognise it did not exist. You were born into a role for society that was very strict in its boundries. A serf would be born a serf, live a serf, die a serf. Even the "elite" were limited by the complex system of rules and marriages. A person was not free to explore their individuality.
With the ascension of democracy and capitalism, a new belief in freedom emerged. A person was no longer limited into the social role they had been born into and had a controlling stake (the vote) in society itself. However, this freedom brings with it an existentialist crisis. People don't want to truly believe that they are inherently responsible for the consequences of their actions. Being free moral agents brings with it the inability to shift blame to another party so people try to deny their freedom. Only a few can accept their free nature and most end up as neurotics.
One of the ways to deny freedom is to be destructive. There are two forms of destructive intent, outward and inward looking. Outward looking destruction solves the dilemma of freedom by actively removing that which forces the dilemma upon you, ie, society. Vandalism, robbery, arson, etc solve the problem of freedom by symbolically striking out at a society that prevents other, more useful outlets to expression of freedom. Inward looking destruction focuses on hurting the individual himself. Eating disorders, selfharm, etc seek to assert control on the person through the medium of pain. Freedom is denied by making one subject to the control of pain.
On a societial level, you too find the expressions of outward destruction (environmental damage, war, etc) and inward destruction (crime, drug abuse, etc). A society made up of individuals trying to deny their basic free nature will also attempt to deny it's own nature. People en mass are in retreat from the crisis of having to take responsibility for the consequences of the actions allowed to them by freedom to be a unique individual. A person who starves themself thin so they can look like the models on TV is afflicted with the same basic problem that a nation who ignores its pollution has.
Based, largely, on the work by Erich Fromm.
. Whatever you want to call it, there was organized societies with large populations and social hierarchies. 
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