This segment of Capital has been focusing on particular aspects surrounding the more general issue of violence. This week we return to this growing concern as we discuss with our readers and contributing commentators the deeper roots of violence, why do we take advantage of others?

Most of the people we approached with this week’s society question looked at us askance as if to say, are you guys serious?
It seems that taking advantage of others is the rule rather than the exception. In fact, not taking advantage is seen to be the mother of idiocy. How to explain this reversal of logic when so many people think Darwin’s theory of survival is only natural? Sad that these people have hardly heard about the evolution guru but still act accordingly.
Taking advantage of others is not an acquired trait but a vestige of that purely animalistic nature of humanity. One cannot learn anger, greed, love, hate and other emotions. These feelings are indeed hardwired into our brain. It is only with the highest of moral standards that we can extricate ourselves from being controlled by our basic instincts.
Two toddlers at play are the perfect example of how humans naturally display acts of domination over their fellow creatures.
Lets offer the children one equally sized bar of chocolate each. Then, place one other bar somewhere close where they can eventually spot it, sit back and observe. Invariably, one of the children will come up with some clever ruse to distract the other. You may also remember how you used to trick your siblings at the dinner table, “Hey, Daniel – you dropped some money”, Poor Daniel looks down and around but by then you have swiped his portion of chicken breast.
This childhood game may seem totally innocent but it is deadly serious training for real viciousness in adulthood.
So what can be done to eradicate the ‘Survival of the Fittest’ mentality if as we said earlier, it’s a natural instinct? The answer lies in the realization that humans have had and still have, the perfect weapon – the brain. We have shown that we can control our tempers- we refrain from such wanton horrors like pedophilia. Horrible as these are, they are nevertheless, natural instincts that we have learned to condition ourselves not to commit.
The same applies to the very human instinct of taking advantage over others. We must elevate society to the level that whenever we sense or witness the fit and strong taking advantage of others, we consider it as an affront to all of society.

Why do we take advantage of
others?

It is a sad fact of life. We are not all born equal and certainly, are not all brought up the same way. Some are intelligent; therefore, they get the good things in life. Others are slow-witted –they make do with the leftovers. Cruel it is, but we can not alter the course of civilization.
Tariku, student Addis Ketema

The family unit is the most important component of society. A loving and respectful family raises socially conscious children, who in time, become model citizens and valuable contributors to their community.
Children, whether they are aware of it or not, do turn out to reflect some, if not all, of their parents’ characters. The person who takes advantage of others and doesn’t even realize it because it’s so ‘natural’, was once a child who had bullies as parents. The better model parents are, the more decent their offspring will be. This is natural.
Tamar, Nurse Sarris,AA
The only way we can control the ‘animal’ in us is by a deep understanding of scripture. I am certainly not a saint but I feel that being true to what I have learned from the Torah and Talmud will prevent me from benefiting at the expense of others. My children already understand that Hashem does not like trickery and the taking of willful advantage of others. My advice is that parents (of all religions) teach this basic rule of civilized behavior to their still developing children.
Shlomit, bank clerk from Jerusalem, Israel.

The more globalized the world gets, the wider it is that human beings become so much connected that there is more competition in every sphere of life. This will result in an increase of ulterior actions and general deception. I say lets be prepared for the cut-throat
Globalized Village that will take advantage of us no matter how nice we are.
B.T, lawyer Kaliti, AA.