The dream of a world court, world law, and world parliament stirred the hopes of liberal rationalists, which led first to the League of Nations and then to the United Nations world bodies which would prevent war. We want peace, we want justice, we want honesty, we want to be in harmony with nature, our fellows, ourselves. We know that things are not the way they should be with humankind. We may think that they were once different, but, more importantly, we would like to hope that they can be different at some time in the future. We struggle with one another and with the forces of nature.
Husband does battle with wife, parents with children, brother with brother, friend with friend.
We cannot let the others have power because they may destroy us. We foster group hatred and collective guilt. And in defense of all these evils we maintain that we must have them for our own survival. Still we slog ahead, hoping for something better, and thankful for whatever progress has been made. There is some measure of arms control, and there has not yet been an all-out nuclear war.