In 2011, the psychology professor Steven Pinker wrote a book which attracted a lot of attention. It was entitled The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined.
His thesis was fascinating. The central idea, as summarised by The New York Times on its publication was that ‘our era is less violent, less cruel and more peaceful than any previous period of human existence’.
Now, however, ‘in a bitter irony’ (Pinker’s own words), the latest edition of that book is as we speak going to press for the first time. It is the edition in Ukrainian.
In fairness to Pinker, he has always been honest enough to admit that the trends he documented in his book – and which he argued led to the decline of both inter-state and intra-societal violence globally (on average) – might not continue.
Reality of the human condition
Now indeed it appears that the reality of the human condition may be catching up with his thesis. In an article in March in The Boston Globe, Pinker admitted that what he called ‘the Long Peace’ – the decline of interstate war – had been ‘brutally halted’ by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He was also honest enough to admit that three ‘contributors to peace’ he had identified (namely interstate trade, membership of global organisations, and the UN) had in fact ‘failed to inhibit’ Russia.
Pinker argues that ‘history is not cyclical, but it is jerky’ in that sometimes it takes time for real changes – such as a long-term decline in inter-state war – to fully take effect. To support his case he points out that France had to abolish slavery twice, but now ‘we no longer have slave auctions. Nor do we have a need for laws against burning children as an offering to Molech’.
And it is here that Pinker’s blind spots are apparent. We may not have slave auctions – but human trafficking is alive and well, and, in the years since his book was published, Islamic State held slave auctions for Yazidi women. And when it comes to children – well, we may not burn them, but in 2020, a record number of women in England and Wales had abortions.
Pinker, of course, reckons without sin. We rightly weep for Ukraine’s suffering – but we are not surprised.
